NDCS has released the following press release today:
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- National Deaf Children’s Society launches online space for deaf young people across the UK.
- Users can post videos, ask questions and share advice or experiences.
- The platform will be fully moderated, free and goes live today (April 29th).
- More than 1,500 deaf young people were involved in its design.
The National Deaf Children’s Society has today (Thursday, April 29th) launched a new online community for deaf young people to chat, post videos and share advice.
The Buzz, aimed at deaf youngsters aged 8-18 across the UK, will also give them a safe space to ask questions, discuss problems and find deaf-friendly events in their area.
The site is growing rapidly and posts already include coping with face masks, reviews of British Sign Language apps and how to talk to an employer about being deaf.
There are 50,000 deaf children and young people in the UK, but many find they鈥檙e the only deaf pupil in their school and often struggle to meet people who鈥檝e shared the same experiences.
The Buzz will be give them a platform to do just that and will be fully moderated and free of charge for everyone who signs up.
More than 1,500 deaf young people were involved in designing and testing the platform, with thousands more expected to join over the coming weeks.
Several deaf influencers, such as Jazzy Whips and Benny Ngo, are also signed up to post content as the site gets underway.
The site is now live at听.
Kara Gillespie, 15 from Motherwell, is deaf and helped design the site. She said:
鈥淚 wanted to get involved because I feel very strongly about helping people, deaf people especially, and The Buzz does exactly that.
鈥淎 lot of deaf people don鈥檛 feel safe to talk about their feelings and so it will be a fantastic place for us to chat and learn. It鈥檚 important that deaf people can feel secure when they talk about things and having the option to ask questions on the website is really effective too.
鈥淎 lot of deaf people are going to benefit from The Buzz and I鈥檓 really happy to see it ready to launch.鈥�
Deaf YouTube star听, who has more than 200,000 subscribers, will work on The Buzz as a content creator, making entertaining and engaging videos on deaf topics. She said:
鈥淚t鈥檚 so important to have deaf role models for young deaf people, as I didn鈥檛 really have many when I was younger.
鈥淚 wish I had The Buzz when I was at that age so I could have been more confident with things such as knowing what to expect as I grew up, where to meet other young deaf people, how to find a job and how to grow in confidence with your deaf identity.
鈥淚 hope that by听sharing my own experiences young deaf people may feel inspired, or comforted, knowing they can relate to or even learn from my experiences. We鈥檙e all in this together.鈥�
Jazzy is also on听,听,听TikTok听and听.
Rosie Eggleston, Participation Manager at the National Deaf Children鈥檚 Society, said:
鈥淭he Buzz is a ground-breaking safe space designed by deaf young people, for deaf young people and we鈥檙e delighted to be launching it today.
鈥淪o many deaf young people have told us how they鈥檝e struggled to meet others like them, who鈥檝e shared their experiences and understand exactly how they feel.
鈥淭he Buzz is here to change all that and it will give each and every one of them a chance to ask questions, post videos and express themselves in an accessible and inclusive environment.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very exciting time and we鈥檙e hoping that thousands of deaf young people from across the UK will sign up and get involved.鈥�
