Background of Bexley Deaf Centre

Bexley Deaf Centre (alongside Bexley Deaf Club) was established in 1986 by the local deaf community who were frustrated at the lack of support for Deaf and Hard of Hearing residents at that time. After much campaigning with the local authority, the group eventually secured a small grant which enabled them to start a service offering social activities and events.

By 1991, Breakthrough Trust had acquired the service and they continued to offer activities and support for Bexley deaf residents.

In 1994 the service separated from Breakthrough Trust and became an independent charity, operating under the name of Bexley Deaf Group (known locally as Bexley Deaf Centre). Although Bexley Deaf Club was initially part of the original concept, they also broke away to form an independent CIC. Despite this however, we still have very strong links with Bexley Deaf Club and frequently collaborate through community engagement projects and focus groups to strengthen our mission of ‘Working with deaf people for equality’.

Our services are accessed on average, over 11,000 times every year and we are now one of the busiest centres in South East London for teaching British Sign Language.