We Are Hiring!
Making Bedfordshire a place where deaf and hard of hearing people can access everything needed to live, work, study, and relax.
Services We Offer
Our Mission
Catherine Wright,
Founder and Chair of Trustees
When we founded Access Bedford in 2014, it was because we knew something had to change. Deaf families like ours faced barriers everywhere – from healthcare and voting to finding inclusive activities, social opportunities and cultural support. We wanted Bedfordshire to be a place where deaf and hard of hearing people could live, work, learn and relax without feeling excluded.
Ten years on, we have seen real progress, including the BSL Act 2022, but many barriers remain. Since appointing dedicated staff in 2022, we have grown from strength to strength, reaching more people, delivering more services and helping organisations across Bedfordshire become more accessible.
Since appointing dedicated staff to manage the charity and deliver services in 2022, we are starting to see a shift in Bedfordshire. We have been able to secure additional funding, which has meant we have been able to reach and support more people, as well as increase the number of partners we support to make their settings and resources more inclusive.
I am hopeful that in the next 10 years, Deaf Access Bedfordshire (as we're known now!) will no longer need to fight to ensure the 135,000 deaf people in our community can access basic services. We hope that we will be able to turn our focus towards education and skills development, teaching the hearing community to sign, supporting deaf children and their families to gain early access to language, and bringing the BSL GCSE to our local schools.
Find out how you can support us, here.