Do it for the Deaf

CDA Trustees is organizing this fundraiser to benefit CUMBRIA DEAF ASSOCIATION.

Cumbria Deaf Association - The Story

Cumbria Deaf Association was established on 28th November 1893 and 130 years on remains a local charity that supports Deaf people and their families living in Cumbria to achieve educational, physical, social and spiritual wellbeing. The charity provides British Sign Language Interpreters for the d/Deaf community for various situations including births, weddings and funerals, doctor’s appointments, job interviews and so forth. For businesses, BSL interpreters are provided for safety briefings, training videos, activity information, workplace accessibility audits etc. We offer in-house deaf awareness training and introduction to BSL courses, helping improve communication between the Deaf and hearing community.

The last 10 years have not been without their challenges though! Although the storms of 2005 and 2015 left us with destroyed paperwork and equipment, we managed to continue offering our services. Critically, in March 2020, the world was rocked by the Coronavirus Pandemic which saw many d/Deaf people unable to communicate effectively, due to laws requiring the use of facemasks making it difficult to lip read. In 2023, despite us repeatedly following all requests from Barclay’s, they closed our accounts, resulting in CDA having no access to funds, we couldn’t apply for grants and had no ability to receive payments! In this situation, our CEO was exceptionally generous in lending a significant amount of personal funds to CDA to keep the charity afloat. So to say the last 10 years have been challenging is an understatement!

Hopes and Dreams

Before the de-banking, we were on track to develop the charity and had big plans for 2025! We had plans to become a Signature Accredited Centre, to be able to deliver Level 1 and Level 2 courses in BSL and we have a dedicated and passionate training team ready and waiting to provide this. We aimed to provide an office space in Whitehaven for the community, and training staff. We had aspirations to hire a Mental Health Champion & Community Advocate to support Deaf people across the county. Finally, we had hopes to carry out necessary repairs to our building in Kendal that were identified in the surveyor’s report in 2023.

However, the impact of the debanking has continued to have a massive impact on the organisation and at a personal level, caused distress and uncertainly for the staff who have done all they can to deliver core services and community activities with very little funding or resources. We have had to massively deplete reserves in order to maintain day-to-day operations, so we now need to bolster these in order to continue operating.

CDA provides fundamental support to the d/Deaf community in ways we often take for granted. When you were giving birth, did you need an interpreter present to understand what was happening? Were you able to tell your GP exactly what your ailment was without any difficulty? When you felt threatened or in danger, were you able to call for assistance straight away? Was there a language barrier when you last had a job interview? Our charity is a historic and vital service to those who require language support, and we desperately need your help to continue to provide this important work.

How can you help?

As we are a small charity, any funds that can be donated will be greatly appreciated. We understand that times are tough, so any donation, big or small will make a huge difference.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read our story, and offering any help that you can.

You can continue to follow our story on our