Angela Starr

‘I am a Child of Deaf Adults (CoDA) and have been involved in the deaf community now for over 40 years doing all sorts of different things, from helping someone with a phone call to running a business that supports deaf people.

I left school to go to work for a leading high street bank but got made redundant. As I was a young mum I wanted a job within school term times so I could be at home with my children during the school holidays. A friend suggested I should use my skills in sign language and get qualifications in BSL to support deaf people, so that’s what I did; I am now a qualified CSW with and NVQ in BSL Level 6.

During my early years I attended most Deaf Clubs and Deaf events from discos, raffles, rallies, school reunions, Deaf pubs, BDA weekends and bingo. For the past years I have been involved in Barking and Dagenham Deaf Club, Barking and Dagenham Deaf FC, West Ham Deaf FC, West Ham Deaf Golf Society and Southern Deaf Golf Association. I was privileged to manage the Great Britain Deaf Ten Pin Bowling team that went to the Deaflympics in Melbourne, Australia in 2004.’