A DEAF charity has defended its decision for its meetings and sign language classes to be exclusively for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Communic8te Bury said it stands by its members’ vote to be a “deaf charity for deaf people”.

It follows complaints made by Adam Pearsall that he was “no longer welcome” at Communic8te “because he could hear”.

Mr Pearsall, of Robertson Street, in Radcliffe, usually attends Communic8te with his deaf girlfriend but was on his own during his latest visit last week.

He said: “I have been going to Communic8te on and off for 12 years.

“The manager said hearing people are not allowed. I could not believe what I was hearing. I have volunteered at Manchester Deaf Centre and various deaf charities. To be told I am not welcome because I can hear is absolutely shocking.

“I enjoy going there to use my skills and learn from others.

“They said if I was with my girlfriend I would be able to attend. It says on their website they are trying to break down barriers and they stand for equality. That is only going one way.

“I was not talking there, I was using sign language. They have staff working there who do not sign.”

Mr Pearsall studied British Sign Language (BSL) at degree level and said he has signed all his life.

The board of trustees at Communic8te, said in a statement: "We are sorry that the person feels this way, but Communic8te Bury is here to support Deaf people and those with a hearing loss.

"At the AGM in March 2018 our members voted to limit the access to social events to fully hearing individuals.

"We historically had supported all attendees at Communic8te but, due to restrictions on our funding, we had to make the difficult decision to focus funding specifically on the non-hearing or hard of hearing members.

"We are passionate about supporting people and our focus is on ensuring the hard of hearing in the community receive the best opportunities possible through maximisation of our funding.

"Our door is always open to hearing individuals to volunteer to support our members and we always gratefully welcome that support, and can offer volunteers a variety of training, including Basic BSL, to enable them to support our members. The person concerned will always be welcome when supporting his wife or as a volunteer."

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