Foyle Deaf Association

The Foyle Deaf Association was established in 2009 to serve and empower the d/Deaf community of the North-West. We are well established in the Deaf community of the North West, with strong ties to our members. One of the FDA's vital functions is bringing members together to reduce social isolation and improve skills and confidence. We host weekly social evenings at our centre where members and guests meet and enjoy various leisure activities at such as bingo, pool, darts, chess and so on. We also run outings, events and various projects where our d/Deaf members and higher level sign language students meet up such as coffee mornings, sign choir, arts and crafts and knitting projects, as well as advocacy, talks and information sessions with speakers of interest to the d/Deaf community. We have recently established a youth club for d/Deaf children and CODAs and run music and art projects with them.  By providing a hub where our d/Deaf members are able to associate with their peers, the FDA is one of the structures which helps to create a sense of community among d/Deaf individuals who are often geographically dispersed. Simply bringing d/Deaf people together is part of the community-creating process which is enhanced by different projects and services provided by the FDA. In addition, our ongoing work in training successive cohorts in signed languages addresses the lack of hearing sign language professionals including communication support workers and interpreters in Northern Ireland. These, along with all of our services, continually work at creating a higher standard of living for d/Deaf persons and strengthening of the d/Deaf community as a whole.