No deaf clubs please, we are welsh !

A sort of 'State of non-union' blog really.....First congratulations to Nottinghamshire re the launch of their new website, obviously an forward-thinking deaf area. We can only dream of an website here, we don't even use social sites that much, and the sole message board hasn't had an post of any nature for ages. A few years ago there was an feeble attempt, but it had no support and even less nous. The ability is there, the will certainly is not.

Be it the BDA or the charity not worthy of an mention, support is non-extant to an large degree. We've tried to encourage deaf clubs in Wales to take an more pro-active approach as well, since unless they start using their buildings, and expertise as Nottingham did to generate some income, they will lose them all. My area has already lost theirs, and deaf youth divided from deaf older people. This was apparently by choice too. Forget community here ! we've seen no deaf children nor ethnic deaf in clubs.

Deaf youth has moved twice in 6/7 months already and young deaf look like being nomads for the foreseeable future. Nearby Cwmbran seems to be in an different venue every other month, their facebook site is virtually unused as well.

I understand Cardiff is trying to save theirs too, after the Local Authority said it wasn't going to subsidise any more. Sadly there is little or no interest in preserving clubs at all. Our deaf youth are just not interested. The nomadic nature of deaf people who traverse the country to chat 'under the lamp' has meant there is no visible localised representation to preserve things. Local Authorities are now just looking to their own areas, and not paying for deaf from other areas to use facilities they pay towards. The strength of deaf in numbers was exposed as an myth, as each club depended on other clubs members to boost numbers.

This means that there is no numerical support in any local area to keep, or fight for what they have. I rather fear deaf culture in as much as there is one in Wales is on borrowed time. We've lost the dedicated buildings, and despite 36 years of free rent and subsidy my area enjoyed, members never bothered to save for that rainy day, the rapid capitulation to agreeing for closure was an shock to older deaf people, less than 8 years prior to that 300 deaf got together and blocked it, this time around no-one did.

All over bar the feeble shouting ? There is no drive to raise funds for an new one, or promote aspects of an deaf welsh culture. We are utterly dependent on the church providing an room for the elderly, who are certainly entitled to sit back a bit and let youth do some work, but it is not happening. Youth decided they didn't want prayers with their social free time, and went to the pub, I could suggest when they are older they will have nowhere to go either, but youth doesn't look any further than now. This follows the fact no deaf schools exist in Wales either, PHU's are decreasing, and those deaf needing specialist deaf education are being ferried to England.

Is Wales the future of the UK deaf community, or the exception ? Deaf have moved on to... where exactly ?