A DEAF woman has been working hard to teach sign language to residents and organisations.

Shazia Haniff, who was born deaf, has founded a British Sign Language club, the first meeting of which was in Costa, in High Street, Slough on January 18.

The monthly meetings aim to teach sign language to the residents of Slough.

Since then, Mrs Haniff has held further events – teaching a group of 30 scouts at a meeting at Khalsa Primary School, Slough.

Mrs Haniff, speaking of her evening with the Scouts through an interpreter, said: “This included learning a little sign language, with me teaching them finger spelling and a few basic signs such as ‘book’ and ‘car’, the colours and numbers.

“It was amazing to see them learn quickly and try to communicate without using their voice or talking. They realised how it hard it was.

“The evening was so amazing, we laughed, relaxed and I felt proud to bond with them.”

Mrs Haniff then went on to teach staff at Slough Borough Council’s MyCouncil headquarters in Landmark Place, in High Street, where she taught them some signs they were likely to use in their work.

Mrs Haniff said: “These sessions aim to help deaf, hard of hearing, and older people losing their hearing to understand better when they communicate with people, because they need time to hear or understand.

“Learning some of these tips and some sign language will make communication easier for all in community.”

Mrs Haniff said that learning sign language is easier than one might think: “There are a lot of quite obvious signs – you can learn the basics quite easily. There are apps for your phone that teach you a new word each day.”

The next Sign Club will be held in Starbucks, High Street, Slough, on Wednesday, from 10am to noon. For more information email sloughsignbsl@gmail.com