The British Deaf Association is delighted to announce that the BDA Chair, Dr Terry Riley OBE, has been awarded the Signature Lifetime Achievement Award.
Signature have chosen to award Terry this honour for “breaking down barriers, advocating positive changes for deaf and deafblind people, and transforming the lives of others for the better, through tireless hard work and campaigning”.
Terry has been a lifelong advocate of British Sign Language and the language rights of Deaf people. He has been involved with the British Deaf Association for over five decades, and is currently in his third term as Chair of the Board of Trustees.
The BDA has been very fortunate to draw upon Terry’s considerable expertise from a career that has spanned from becoming the first Deaf Series Editor at the BBC to Chief Executive of the British Sign Language Broadcasting Trust, all the while lobbying extensively for the rights of Deaf people across the globe.
As Chair of the BDA, Terry has worked tirelessly on a voluntary basis, representing the UK and the BDA as a board member of the World Federation of the Deaf, European Union of the Deaf, and International Disability Alliance. From travelling across the UK and even to the United Nations in his work advocating for a UK Sign Language Act, to guiding the BDA becoming the forward-looking organisation it is today, Terry’s impact has been extensive.
We congratulate Terry on his ongoing dedication and determination to make a positive change for the deaf community, and congratulate him this award.
ENDS
Note for editors.
The awards ceremony was held at The Met Hotel in Leeds on Friday 10th November 2017.
Signature is the leading awarding body for deaf communication qualifications in the UK.
The British Deaf Association (BDA) is a Deaf-led organisation focusing on Deaf people who use British Sign Language (BSL) or Irish Sign Language (ISL) as their first or preferred language. Our mission is to ensure a world in which the language, culture, community, diversity and heritage of Deaf people in the UK is respected and fully protected, leading to the full social inclusion for Deaf people.
Contact: Áine Jackson / research.policy@bda.org.uk
(Photo credit for main feature photo: David Buxton)
