Supporting British Sign Language
30 year old Kirsten Blair is a cashier at Tesco Extra in Prescott. Kirsten, a member of Usdaw has worked at Tesco for a number of years. It was Kirsten’s customer service role that spurred her on to learn sign language.
Kirsten said “I served many customers, but one customer in particular used to come to my till on a regular basis. The customer was deaf and would often write things down on a piece of paper, trying to have a conversation with me. I felt awkward in the fact that I couldn’t communicate with her appropriately, so I decided to learn how to sign.”
In 2010, Kirsten attended a “Checkout Learning” event at work and indicated her interest in learning to sign. However, due to a refurbishment programme in the store, some learning activities were put on hold.
However, this didn’t deter Kirsten, and after a false start she decided to enrol at Denton’s Green Deaf Resource Centre in Prescot.
Kirsten found the tutors very helpful and has been involved in different clubs around the region, as this type of socialisation is recommended by the tutors to encourage students to learn.
She has made a lot of friends and socialises within the deaf community and is often fascinated by the fact that the deaf community can identify record titles by vibrations and that all the regions have their own sign dialect, so Kirsten can also sign with different accents.
After speaking to her union learning representative, Kirsten was told that because she had been learning for some time, she was entitled to £150 towards her course costs through one of USDAW’s Collective Learning Fund projects.
Kirsten was thrilled to hear she was eligible for financial assistance and said it would go towards the costs of her Level 3 sign language course which she is hoping to start next year at a cost of £3000.
Kirsten said “I feel a lot more confident and happier knowing I can now understand deaf customers. I have requested a message be put on my name badge identifying that I am able to sign, so members of staff can bring customers to me for help.”
“I am really enjoying my new role” said Kirsten, “it gives me a great deal of job satisfaction knowing I offer a little extra help”.
Ann Murphy, USDAW’s National Union Learning Fund Project Co-ordinator said “Sign language is very popular course amongst our members, particularly those who work in retail. Usdaw’s national “Checkout Learning” campaign, supported by the Union Learning Fund, is specifically aimed at making learning opportunities available as well as affordable to our members, and Kirsten is a great example of what can be achieved.”
