JDA Magazine May 2025 Paperturn - Flipbook - Page 15
OLD HANDS, NEW TRICKS
Everyone’s talking about Rose
Ayling-Ellis’s moving documentary
Old Hands, New Tricks shown on
BBC1… and featuring JDA!
A few weeks after their visit to JDA, some of us
went to the beautiful Hughenden retirement
village for their BSL graduation ceremony.
They all signed their own speeches, and we were
there cheering them on.
Rose Ayling-Ellis 昀椀rst visited JDA when she won
Strictly Come Dancing. A fan of our funny TikToks
(for which our members are now famous!) she
was just as excited to meet our Wednesday Club
members as we were to meet her!
This heart-warming programme shows that
BSL can bring people together, enabling Deaf
people — and older people who become isolated
through losing their hearing — to communicate
and engage with everyone and be a part of the
community they live in.
When Rose made her TV programme Old Hands, New
Tricks, she and BSL teacher Marios Costi embarked
on an experiment to teach BSL to older people living
at Hughenden Gardens Retirement Village.
Rose wanted the group to experience what a
truly inclusive and welcoming community feels
like. She told them “I’m taking you to JDA —
one of my favourite places!”
We’re proud to have been chosen to feature in
this important TV programme. Rose’s uplifting
experiment shows that learning BSL together with
others can bring great joy in later life… and it’s
never too late to learn!
The group showed us the sign language they
had learnt. We all clapped appreciatively and
encouraged them to keep signing! Michael
encouraged a resident whose eyesight is
deteriorating not to give up, and she left inspired to
learn Braille. Colleen and Karen from Hughenden
chatted like they had known each other all their
lives. Recently, Colleen was delighted to receive a
card from Karen keeping in touch!
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