Sallie Pane
Director
DEE SIGN BSL CHOIR
Find out more about our award-winning history, meet the directors, and take a look at what our audiences are saying about us!
Director
Director
Director
THE QUEEN’S AWARD FOR VOLUNTARY SERVICE. Awarded in 2012, it is highest honour given to voluntary groups, the equivalent of an MBE! This annual award recognises excellence in voluntary activities carried out by community groups. Her Majesty the Queen announced the Award in 2002 to mark the occasion of her Golden Jubilee. Four volunteers from Dee Sign Choir were invited to attend a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace – an occasion they will never forget.
JERSEY EISTEDDFOD. The competition began in 2010 and Dee Sign Choir came away the overall winners. The competition was adjudicated by Dr Paul Whittaker OBE who despite being Deaf himself is an accomplished musician. Dee Sign Choir returned in 2011 to defend their title, along with their junior choir Dee Sign Dynamix. Again, the choir achieved Gold and were the first winners of the Billy Dorkin’s Memorial Trophy. While Dynamix won a Silver award. In 2015, 38 choir members flew to Jersey for their 3rd visit to this wonderful Eisteddfod. We entered 4 classes. Our soloist achieved Silver, our trios achieved silver and gold award, De -Sign Dynamix won Gold and the Paul Whittaker Cup, and Dee-Sign Seniors achieved PLATINUM with 90 marks and the Billy Dorkin’s Memorial Trophy.
CHRISTMAS CAROLS. Part of our incredibly wide repertoire is a fabulous selection of traditional and modern Christmas Carols and songs. We are often asked to perform in the lead up to Christmas in shopping centres, places of worship and also residential homes, and we thoroughly enjoy helping shoppers, congregations and residents get in the festive mood!
THE NATIONAL SIGNING CHOIR COMPETITION. The first competition was held in Nottingham’s Albert Hall in 2017, Dee Sign Choir fought off stiff competition to come second. In 2018 the competition was hosted by the 2017 winners Vision Signing Choir, in Kent. Dee Sign Choir won first place, just pipping the hosts! The competition was featured on BBC 2’s See Hear programme. Go to our Gallery under Watch Us to watch this and other videos of our competition entries.
WE’LL MEET AGAIN. Facing into the challenges of COVID, Dee Sign Choir were able to gather virtually every Saturday morning, and proudly produced a recording of ‘We’ll Meet Again’ for the 75th Anniversary of VE Day. You can see this video if you go to our Gallery under Watch Us.
NEW SINFONIA COLLABORATION. Again, under COVID restrictions, and working with musicians from across North Wales, Dee Sign Choir collaborated on a brand new piece of music Collaborating to produce new music with budding local orchestra New Sinfonia. Go to our Gallery under Watch Us to watch this video. It really is quite beautiful.
NORTH WALES CHOIR FESTIVAL For the first time, Dee Sign Choir entered the festival, which took place in Llandudno, North Wales. We were delighted to perform in the company of some of the best choirs from across the region and wider! In the Open category, we achieved 3rd place. We signed ‘I will follow him’, ‘This is me’ and ‘You’ve got something I need’. The judges’ comments included: “Convincing and well-rehearsed movements” “Loved it!” “Very moving” “Facial expressions were spot on, so emotional” “Your diction of the lyrics, your expressions setting the tone for each song, and your rhythmic continuity were fab. Well done!” Click the button below to watch a summary of the event!
I was blown away by your performance yesterday! So many people commented on how beautiful it was. Huge thanks for being part of it! Hammond Theatre 0-100 Chester SingAlong Amanda 28th April 2024
I have had the pleasure of watching Dee Sign BSL Choir for many years, they are a truly amazing BSL choir who have the skills of making each song come alive in front of your eyes. I love watching their translation of songs into BSL – they make your heart flip with emotions, sad, happy, emotional and jus a feeling of being thankful to be alive. If you get chance to see them, you won’t be disappointed.
It was a pleasure to have your company for the evening. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the choir and I have had loads of messages talking about the joy and emotion of the evening.
Just a message to say what an amazing night we had with you tonight. Your choir is inspiring and so emotional we all were so thrilled by your performance. Thank you so much for making time to come to our church, we hope to see you next year and send our Best Wishes to you all xxx
“Thank you all so much for being part of Mold Carnival and making the day the great success it was. We must have had around 6-8k people throughout the day with some families spending all day with us as there was so much to see and do, including amazing performances from you all. I do hope that you enjoyed it as much as we did. The success of Mold carnival is down to everyone including you, our amazing community performers, and we really appreciate you supporting us year after year and the many hours of practice you all put in preparation for the carnival. It was a brilliant day for the whole community and we have received great feedback and comments from those who attended. Thank you once again for being part of this.” (J.E. Mold Town Council) 20th July 2023
A Very Big Thankyou to all of you for coming out so far to be with us. Everyone just loved you all and enjoyed every minute of your performance. To be honest you could have carried on all night as nobody wanted you to finish. St Mary, Ysceifiog 4th October 2023
“On behalf of Trelawnyd choir, I would like to thank you for your wonderful contribution at the NWIMF (North Wales International Music Festival) in St Asaph Cathedral. My fellow members all thought you were great!” (Phil R – September 2023) Dee Sign BSL Choir signed two songs with Trelawnyd Choir Bring Him Home and Anfonaf Angel
Thank you and the Dee Sign Choir for making our evening so special last night. The feedback has been amazing, we all thoroughly enjoyed your performance. I’m pleased that you also enjoyed the evening with us and found Caerwys WI welcoming and friendly. We all wish you continued success with your sign choir, and the invaluable support you give to those who have hearing impairment. Lin, Treasurer, Caerwys WI April 8th 2024
“Last Friday in Chester I got to @StoryhouseLive for my tour show and was told there was a Sign Language choir called @Deesignchoir performing in the bar before my show. So I got them up to close the show with a signed performance. I smiled the whole way through it.” Ray Bradshaw, March 2023
At St Bartholomew’s Christmas Concert (Sealand, Chester), two of our choir members were approached by a lady from the congregation. She was keen to say how wonderful the choir were, and that she and her friends had never seen anything so moving and amazing. She loved how well we harmonised the songs, each doing different signs. She is planning on coming to one of the choir’s public performances in 2024. December 2023
We all thoroughly enjoyed the signing, you’re all amazing! Jo K. April 2023
We so enjoyed the Dee Sign Choir performances at the Festival. Thank you all very much. The evening was such a highlight of the fortnight. Audience member 13th October 2023
CHESTER & DISTRICT COMMITTEE FOR DEAF PEOPLE (Registered Charity No. 237910)
The Charity’s objectives and principal activities are:
The relief of D/deaf people resident in the borough of Chester and such other areas in the County of Cheshire, as the Council of Management may from time to time decide including:
In preparing the annual report the Trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and believe that the objectives and activities meet these requirements.
The Committee continues to operate successfully in achieving its overall objectives.