Museum staff show signs of learning a new language
Staff at Coventry Transport Museum are showing signs of learning a new language - thanks to their local NHS.
Clinicians from Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust have provided tuition in specialist sign language Makaton to staff at the popular attraction.
The language - a comprehensive range of symbols together with a kind of sign language - is designed to help improve communication with people with a learning disability who have difficulty understanding signs and language that other people might take for granted.
The training will ensure that staff at the museum are even better prepared to meet the needs of all kinds of visitors from the UK around the world when they launch their refurbished attraction in Spring 2015, following its £8.5 million transformation, funded by the National Lottery.
Explained Sue Cory, Therapies Lead for Community Learning Disability from the Trust: “Using the Makaton system of symbols and signs can help a lot to include people with a learning disability. Too often they are forgotten, so we were delighted to offer this training to staff at the museum as they prepare for their ‘new’ attraction.
“The staff were all enthusiastic and we will make sure that our clients are among the first people with a learning disability through the doors when the Museum’s fantastic transformation is complete!”
Added Laura Musgrave, Community Engagement Officer from Coventry Transport Museum: “This is an important development for us and our staff, and is part of our ethos of taking positive action to ensure we give a great welcome to every visitor who comes through our doors. The training was mainly for our front of house staff, and went really well. We’re aiming to invite local community groups in to practice the signing with us and help us check we’ve got everything in place.”
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Notes for editors
Coventry Transport Museum’s £8.5m Redevelopment project is underway, and is due to be completed in late Spring 2015.
The project will see 12 of the museum’s 14 galleries completely redesigned and refurbished, enabling the story of Coventry’s proud motoring heritage to be told in a bold and innovative new way.
The redevelopment has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, European Regional Development Find, Biffa Award and Garfield Weston.
The museum remains open throughout the majority of the project, although parts of the building are closed in phases as they are being worked on. Visitors are advised to check the museum website www.transport-museum.com to check how their visit may be affected.
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Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust provides mental health, learning disability and community health services to the people of Coventry. The Trust also provides mental health and learning disability services in Warwickshire and Solihull, in addition to providing a range of specialist health services to people across the UK.
In a typical day, the Trust sees nearly 5,000 patients from an overall catchment area with a population of more than one million people.
To find out more about the Trust, visit www.covwarkpt.nhs.uk