A SCHEME to help people with communication difficulties is to be formally launched in Kirklees next Thursday.
It will be launched at Dewsbury Library by Clr Margaret Bates, Kirklees Cabinet’s member for Adult Services and Clr Liz Smaje, the Cabinet member for Leisure and Neighbourhood Services.
The scheme, BoardTalk, is a joint project put together by the council’s Adult Services, Culture and Leisure Services and local health services.
It features communication boards made up of photos, symbols and letters and is aimed at people with communication needs.
It could help people with a learning difficulty, those whose first language is not English, who have communication difficulties brought on by a stroke or who cannot talk.
In libraries, communication boards will help people say what they have come to use or borrow. They will be able to choose the type of book they enjoy and find out where it is kept.
At sports centres the boards will help people to say what activity they have come to do.
They will be able to ask for help, find out the cost of activities and find out when they are taking place.
Wallet-sized BoardTalk cards will be available from libraries and sports centres, resource centres and social services information points.
Visitors to premises running the scheme will be able to show staff their card to point out that they and would like to use the communication board.
BoardTalk was taken from an idea called Libraries For All used by the Scope charity in Australia.
It has been developed for use in libraries and leisure centres in Kirklees.
It is supported by the Learning Disability Development Fund, which has been given money by the Government’s Valuing People scheme to help develop services for people with learning difficulties.
Clr Bates said: “Helping people communicate can improve their quality of life, as well as their opportunities, education, social life, friendships and independence.
“This project takes a positive step towards making it easier for people with communication difficulties to use services by providing a more accessible way of communicating.”
Clr Smaje said: “I am delighted that sports centres and libraries are able to promote this new way of communicating with people who may find it difficult to understand the written or spoken word.
“I hope BoardTalk will be a great help to people using our services and that it will encourage them to communicate their needs when visiting our centres and libraries.”
