Miss-Delectable
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Deaf Boys Win Is Reel Achievement (from This Is Hertfordshire)
A Carshalton teenager has made it to the regional finals of the National Lottery Awards 2006 for making cinema-going accessible to thousands of hearing and visually impaired people.
Dean Rhodes Brandon, who lives in Green Wrythe Lane, is one of four finalists in the south east of England to be nominated for the awards, which recognise successful lottery-funded initiatives.
The teenager, who has been deaf since birth, launched Your Local Cinema with the UK Film Council when he was nine, in an effort to increase the number of cinemas showing subtitled and audio-described films.
continued...
Now 15, he still helps to run the project's supporting website, yourlocalcinema.com, which informs deaf clubs, schools and individuals of when these screenings are taking place in their area by email, typetalk, fax, text or post.
The Carshalton-based project was nominated by a panel of high-profile judges, including entrepreneur Sir Terence Conran and Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee.
A National Lottery spokesman explained why each finalist was chosen. She said: "For these awards we were basically looking for people who had used lottery money to do something really innovative and original. We wanted people who were proud of what they had done with the money they had received. Your Local Cinema is a great project."
Dean will find out if he has made it to the national finals in September.
His father Derek said: "Going to the cinema is an occasion that most people take for granted, but that many people like Dean struggle to enjoy. I was exceptionally proud when my son set this project up while at school, and it's great that so many cinemas have got involved to make cinema going more accessible to so many people."
He added: "I'm really proud of him, it's a great achievement."
A Carshalton teenager has made it to the regional finals of the National Lottery Awards 2006 for making cinema-going accessible to thousands of hearing and visually impaired people.
Dean Rhodes Brandon, who lives in Green Wrythe Lane, is one of four finalists in the south east of England to be nominated for the awards, which recognise successful lottery-funded initiatives.
The teenager, who has been deaf since birth, launched Your Local Cinema with the UK Film Council when he was nine, in an effort to increase the number of cinemas showing subtitled and audio-described films.
continued...
Now 15, he still helps to run the project's supporting website, yourlocalcinema.com, which informs deaf clubs, schools and individuals of when these screenings are taking place in their area by email, typetalk, fax, text or post.
The Carshalton-based project was nominated by a panel of high-profile judges, including entrepreneur Sir Terence Conran and Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee.
A National Lottery spokesman explained why each finalist was chosen. She said: "For these awards we were basically looking for people who had used lottery money to do something really innovative and original. We wanted people who were proud of what they had done with the money they had received. Your Local Cinema is a great project."
Dean will find out if he has made it to the national finals in September.
His father Derek said: "Going to the cinema is an occasion that most people take for granted, but that many people like Dean struggle to enjoy. I was exceptionally proud when my son set this project up while at school, and it's great that so many cinemas have got involved to make cinema going more accessible to so many people."
He added: "I'm really proud of him, it's a great achievement."