Project: Deaf Progress

Safe Voice Deaf Progress is an organisation-specific pilot project under the central P505 Safe Voice Programme. It supports Deaf Progress as a community-focused accessibility, communication and inclusion initiative centred on improving independence, opportunity and equal participation for Deaf and hard-of-hearing people. Deaf Progress provides services including on-site and remote interpreting, advocacy support, employment support, Deaf awareness activity, community engagement and British Sign Language learning. Its wider mission is to help remove the communication and access barriers that can prevent Deaf people from participating fully in healthcare, education, employment, legal processes, public services, social life and everyday community activity. Within this pilot, Safe Voice does not replace the identity or mission of Deaf Progress. Instead, it provides a PHC governance and evidence framework around the organisation’s existing services. The project will help capture Concerns, define Actions, identify People and partners, track Deliverables, record evidence, support funding readiness and make communication-access barriers visible through PHC Port. From a PHC perspective, this project is not merely about providing interpreting or classes. It is about recognising communication access as a serious social inclusion issue. Where Deaf people are not properly heard, risks are missed, services fail, employment opportunities are lost, health needs may be misunderstood, and rights may be weakened. Safe Voice Deaf Progress gives these issues a structured project home.