Miss-Delectable
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icSouthlondon - Pearly king's deaf crusade
A PEARLY king has hit out at the way deaf people are treated.
Ricky Clitheroe, the Pearly King of Deptford and Lewisham, has three deaf daughters.
But it wasn't until his youngest, Lauren, found herself homeless that he realised how difficult life could be for her.
When single mum Lauren had nowhere to live, she went with her mum, Tricia, to Lewisham's homelessness unit but found it difficult to communicate with staff.
There were no signs or loop system for deaf people,and no one knew sign language.
Lauren, 21, who has an 11-month-old daughter, Chloe, said: "They would only talk to my mum, which I found very unwelcoming.
"People who are more deaf than I am would not have had a clue what to do."
She added: "The people there have had no training and there are no facilities."
Lauren's family claim she has been put in unsuitable accommodation - a dark, dingy room in a hostel.
She never knows when her mum comes to visit because she cannot hear the door bell.
Ricky said: "Deaf people are not catered for in the homelessness unit.
"We have opened a can of worms."
He said every public building in the borough should have a loop system just as they all now have wheelchair access.
The council has since offered Lauren a flat, which she has accepted.
A council spokesman apologised and said delivering fully inclusive services was taken extremely seriously.He added that council representatives would like to meet with Lauren and her dad to develop front-line staff training.
He said the housing options centre was being refurbished and was temporarily without its loop system when she visited.
A PEARLY king has hit out at the way deaf people are treated.
Ricky Clitheroe, the Pearly King of Deptford and Lewisham, has three deaf daughters.
But it wasn't until his youngest, Lauren, found herself homeless that he realised how difficult life could be for her.
When single mum Lauren had nowhere to live, she went with her mum, Tricia, to Lewisham's homelessness unit but found it difficult to communicate with staff.
There were no signs or loop system for deaf people,and no one knew sign language.
Lauren, 21, who has an 11-month-old daughter, Chloe, said: "They would only talk to my mum, which I found very unwelcoming.
"People who are more deaf than I am would not have had a clue what to do."
She added: "The people there have had no training and there are no facilities."
Lauren's family claim she has been put in unsuitable accommodation - a dark, dingy room in a hostel.
She never knows when her mum comes to visit because she cannot hear the door bell.
Ricky said: "Deaf people are not catered for in the homelessness unit.
"We have opened a can of worms."
He said every public building in the borough should have a loop system just as they all now have wheelchair access.
The council has since offered Lauren a flat, which she has accepted.
A council spokesman apologised and said delivering fully inclusive services was taken extremely seriously.He added that council representatives would like to meet with Lauren and her dad to develop front-line staff training.
He said the housing options centre was being refurbished and was temporarily without its loop system when she visited.