GCU Law Clinic volunteers learn BSL to make legal advice more accessible
Student volunteers at the GCU Law Clinic have been learning British Sign Language (BSL) since moving to online learning, as a way to make their services more accessible to the public.
The Law Clinic, which operates as a free legal advice centre for the public, has been open since 2014 and allows LLB Law students to gain practical experience alongside their studies.
Third year LLB Law (with Risk) student Ananda Bruce is amongst the group of student volunteers who decided to learn the important skill. She said: “It was actually Lucy McKay (recent graduate of LLB Law) that came up with the idea. It started last year when University learning turned to online, and Lucy decided to push the idea of using it for inclusivity. She was working on the ‘Women In Law’ project at the time which focused on equality and inclusivity, so it really tied into that.
It started off with one student learning BSL and from that, a bigger group got involved. Students are encouraged to work with the Law Clinic during the LLB Law course, so people were able to learn BSL on the side and this helped go towards their Common Good Award hours.”
Despite initially thinking that learning BSL would be challenging, Ananda has been having fun getting to learn the new skill. She said: “I’ve really enjoyed getting to learn it. At first I thought that it was going to be really difficult, but I’ve found that it’s actually quite fun!
It was something a bit different as well. They say that learning a different language can be hard, but doing this was really enjoyable.”
As well as using BSL in her role as student volunteer, Ananda has really seen the benefits of knowing BSL as a general life skill. She said: “As well as using it for the Law Clinic, it’s just generally good to know. You’re able to say hello to someone in the street using sign language, and that’s not something that everyone can do.”
She added: “The Law Clinic helps represent the Common Good but we’re limited as to what we can provide as a legal service, since its primarily run by students. But, if we can do something to help people with what we can do, then why should we have to discriminate people who have hearing difficulties?”
Find out more about the GCU Law Clinic on their website.
By Rachael McAlonan
Got a SCEBE or GSBS story? Email me at Rachael.McAlonan@gcu.ac.uk or connect with me on social media.