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Vicar to break the sound of silence - News - Tameside Advertiser
A MOSSLEY vicar is hoping to be the new voice for Tameside’s deaf community.
The Rev Cathy Nightingale, who has been deaf since birth, has taken up residence at St John the Baptist Church.
The 36 year old hopes to make religion more accessible for the hard of hearing and show young people that being deaf is no barrier to fulfilling their dreams.
Cathy, a vicar for seven years, studied bio-chemistry before deciding to join the church and was given the idea after speaking to other deaf friends who struggled to follow their faith.
"It made me realise that deaf people have no access to their faith. You can’t go to your local church or mosque to get the information you need, you are very limited," she said.
"That’s what made me think about training to be a priest, so people whose first language was sign language would be able to ask questions. I was also doing research so I wasn’t really meeting anyone and what I really wanted to do was work with people."
Cathy, who can lip read and sign, spent six months in India teaching skills such as carpentry to deaf people so they could find employment.
Since moving to Mossley in May, she has already become a familiar face at Tameside’s deaf centres and schools. She is hoping to organise regular interpreted services.
"A big part of my work is to go into schools with deaf pupils so they can ask questions," she added."So often they come across negativity and people saying they can’t do something. I’ve had ‘she’s deaf, how can she lead the singing’ but I’ve always seen being deaf as a positive.
"Unfortunately, you do still get it, but hopefully I can be a role model to them."
A MOSSLEY vicar is hoping to be the new voice for Tameside’s deaf community.
The Rev Cathy Nightingale, who has been deaf since birth, has taken up residence at St John the Baptist Church.
The 36 year old hopes to make religion more accessible for the hard of hearing and show young people that being deaf is no barrier to fulfilling their dreams.
Cathy, a vicar for seven years, studied bio-chemistry before deciding to join the church and was given the idea after speaking to other deaf friends who struggled to follow their faith.
"It made me realise that deaf people have no access to their faith. You can’t go to your local church or mosque to get the information you need, you are very limited," she said.
"That’s what made me think about training to be a priest, so people whose first language was sign language would be able to ask questions. I was also doing research so I wasn’t really meeting anyone and what I really wanted to do was work with people."
Cathy, who can lip read and sign, spent six months in India teaching skills such as carpentry to deaf people so they could find employment.
Since moving to Mossley in May, she has already become a familiar face at Tameside’s deaf centres and schools. She is hoping to organise regular interpreted services.
"A big part of my work is to go into schools with deaf pupils so they can ask questions," she added."So often they come across negativity and people saying they can’t do something. I’ve had ‘she’s deaf, how can she lead the singing’ but I’ve always seen being deaf as a positive.
"Unfortunately, you do still get it, but hopefully I can be a role model to them."