The seminar at Bristol Deaf Centre was well attended and we were pleased to welcome two very important speakers, Dr Verena Krausneker, who focused on the international comparison of the legal status of sign languages and Jill Jones, who discussed Deaf Ex Mainstreamers' important draft BSL Bill.

The purpose of these two speakers was to tie in with an important landmark for the Deaf Community, that it is five years since the Government formally stated their recognition of BSL as a language in its own right, on March 18th 2003. The questions that have been asked again and again, and more so with the anniversary, were along the line of; ‘What has recognition meant in practice for us?' 'What's next for us?' and ‘What is needed to ensure real equality and status for us?'

Dr Verena gave a very useful snapshot of the current legal status sign languages have in other countries and she refers to different kinds of status, and how effective they could be in regards to only being constitutional or enforceable in other areas of legal frameworks. The summary of her own and Jill's paper can be seen on the centre pages of this issue. But, it is important for the BDA and the Deaf Community to take into consideration what exists elsewhere, and what we should be aiming for with regards to equality of BSL on real tangible meanings, with regards to education, further education, employment, access to services and so on.

The term ‘soft recognition' was used in reference to the UK's BSL status, as there is no legal backup aside from perhaps a simple PR and some money provided. Dr Verena made a very valid point for us to use existing UN Resolution, European Conventions as they are what the UK government are committing to meet. These are also recognised elsewhere but it is critical for us to use them in our engagement with UK politics.

Clearly what is required, is to assert the status of BSL and ‘UK Plan BSL Policy', the need to set out a roadmap on taking this forward as referred to in the concluding part of an excellent paper as given by Dr Verena and perfectly ties up with Jill Jones' paper ‘DEX's BSL Act'.

The explanations given by Jill on the background and contents of the BSL Act draft were excellent, as modelled on the Welsh Language Act and benefited from their insights and advice; a great part of the act was necessarily given to education. The BDA Southport Congress in August 2007 focused on education and we then reasserted the important role Education has in our philosophy, which the proposed BSL Act draft from DEX simply encapsulated our shared education ambition for young Deaf people into the heart of the matter.

Dr Verena supported the importance of linking education with the legal status of sign language, and everyone appreciates that DEX have done the hard work and provided us with a well considered framework in which we can work with together. Jill also talked of the possibility of language going extinct if it is not protected or promoted. This was based on evidence of the dangerous decline of Welsh speaking comparing earlier in the 20th century to late before the Welsh Language Act intervened by placing Welsh into education and giving the language proper protection.

The workshops afterwards were useful as the members gave their views on the morning speakers and how this could be translated across into action and these notes will help inform our future plans.

After the AGM in the afternoon, we were pleased to receive a lot of feedback. This was one of the best ones and with good attendance; we were pleased to see both familiar and new faces among the crowd. Of course there were questions asked about our finances as it is right in the ongoing financial recovery work needed for the BDA to move forward, but the atmosphere was good and we saw the resignation of the hard working Honorary Treasurer David Buxton, after his fifth year in this role.

I simply repeated the heartfelt thanks from the Board and members, who have known his efforts as he has played an important role in our ongoing improving financial state.

Members were also delighted to welcome in our new Honorary Treasurer, Barry Avison, who, I am pleased to share with you, is a fellow Geordie, like myself. Of course his qualities are more than just that, he has a range of experiences and professional qualifications and we are continuing to work with David in this transition period.

The evening's entertainment provided by SWDA was well appreciated, I noted that fellow North Easterners were the last ones to depart from Bristol Deaf Centre and obviously did not want the evening to end. The socialisation is an ongoing affirmation of BSL being at the heart of our culture and the BDA will want to see that this continues.

On the actual anniversary of BSL recognition, Tuesday 18th March 2008, I was pleased to be invited by DAW and watched the paper given by Richard Jones, Deputy Managing Director, at the National Assembly for Wales, Senedd, with an interesting debate afterwards on the distinction of the Deaf Community in today's world and again in the evening with the strong presence of Deaf people. Again and again people have expressed the same views, that BSL should have legal status and thus Deaf people will be truly equal. The BDA shares that ambition, we want to see this achieved and I can simply say that united, every person and partner organisation can make a far bigger difference than we could alone.

It is likely to be a tough time, long or short, depends on how we can keep at it, BDA will be a part of it, and we would like to see all of you being a part of it as well.