A LANCASHIRE-based housing group are able to communicate with deaf tenants after undergoing a sign language course.

Twenty-eight members of staff from Progress Housing Group attended two, one-day in-house training courses on British Sign Language.

The course aimed to help staff understand what deafness means and gave them new skills to communicate with deaf tenants more effectively.

Customer services officer Cathy Barton said: “The course gave us an insight into deaf culture and taught us basic signs and how to ask for help.

“We don’t use it that regularly as we only have a small number of tenants who are deaf but it gave us enough information to be able to provide an effective service to our tenants.

“We also learned how to use signs for reporting repairs, dealing with rent accounts and how to complete housing application forms.

“Our deaf tenants have found this really useful and it has not only provided staff with more awareness but it also allows us to provide a good service to all tenants.”