News

It's our 128th Birthday!

Today we celebrate the BDA’s 128^th birthday from when we were formed in Leeds (originally as the BDDA – The British Deaf and Dumb Association) on 24^th July 1890

The BDDA was subsequently founded at a time of intense controversy about the use of sign language and finger-spelling in the education of deaf children, and about the exclusion of Deaf people from national decisions that affected their lives.  In a world dominated by hearing people, hearing people acted on behalf of Deaf people, but they did not represent their true interests or share their aspirations.

We’re so grateful to our supporters and staff to be still around after all this time – here’s to another 100 years!

You can read more about our beginnings on our History and Origins pages