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Please see below an update from

“Dear All,

As you may know, the BDA has decided to mark the first anniversary of the passage of the BSL Act by creating National BSL Day, which we will now celebrate every year on 28 April. This year, it will fall on Friday 28 April.

For the first-ever National BSL Day, the BDA is launching an exciting new campaign. We’d really like to make a big splash to mark the first anniversary of the Act!

Our aim for the day is to celebrate our language – BSL, to encourage more people to learn to sign, and remind the Government that we have high expectations for the implementation of the BSL Act.

Why I love BSL

For the first part of the campaign, we would like to invite BSL signers of all ages from across the UK: Deaf, CODA, hearing, to join us in celebrating National BSL Day.

We’d like you to create a video clip in which you sign to us: What do you love about our language? What makes BSL special and unique for you?

Each clip must be no longer than 10 seconds long. We will edit all the clips together and share a video compilation on our social media channels on 28 April.

So get signing! Please send your clips to [email protected] by 18 April. And remember to post your clip on your own social media on 28 April with the hashtags #WhyILoveBSLÌý#BSLAllyÌý#NationalBSLDay.

BSL Poet Laureate competition

For the second part, we are looking for some creative inspiration from the Deaf community!

We are looking to find the UK’s first Deaf Poet Laureate – the official poet of the BSL signing community. Their job will be to create poetic work in BSL whenever there is a big national occasion, just like the King’s Poet Laureate who creates poems in English.

We invite Deaf BSL signers to send us their poem or poetic work (e.g. storytelling / folklore in BSL) of up to 2 minutes. The winner will be selected by a panel of judges and will then be named as the BDA’s official BSL Poet Laureate for one year. More information coming soon!

Please send your entries to [email protected] by 28 April.

Thank you for your support – we can’t wait to celebrate the first ever National BSL Day with you all!”