Looking for Deaf events or someone to practise BSL with? Meet the woman building both
If you’re learning BSL, you’ll probably recognise this problem...
You finish your lesson, learn new vocabulary and practise with the same people in your class. But where do you go if you want to use BSL more naturally, meet other signers or find out what’s happening in the Deaf community near you?
You search online for Deaf clubs, pubs and events, only to discover that some of the information is years out of date. Then you look for other BSL learners nearby and find people asking exactly the same question: “Does anyone want to practise?”
That’s the problem Kim Clarke, Executive Director of My Mental Wellness UK CIC, kept coming across. Instead of accepting that finding these connections was difficult, she started building resources to make it easier.
It started with Kim’s own BSL journey
Kim’s interest in BSL actually goes back to 2016/17, when Stacey Stockwell offered a discounted BSL course to volunteers working at a festival. Kim wanted to learn, but as often happens, life got in the way.
Years later, BSL came back into her life through a completely different route.
My Mental Wellness UK CIC was created to help people find mental health support through signposting and its Take P-heART arts and crafts sessions. The weekly sessions began in December 2024 and have continued almost every Thursday since.
During one of those sessions in November 2025, an attendee mentioned that they were going to learn BSL. Kim discovered that she could study at Sutton College and decided it was finally time to do something she'd wanted to do for years.
She began her course in January 2026.
Learning the language also made Kim want more opportunities to practise it outside the classroom and connect with the Deaf community. That's where she encountered the first problem:
Where are the current Deaf pubs, clubs and events?
Kim started searching for Deaf pubs and clubs she could attend, but finding reliable, current information wasn't straightforward.
She found listings for places that had already closed and information that was no longer relevant. Working out which clubs and events were actually still running became surprisingly time-consuming.
So she started building something herself.
The D/deaf Clubs, Pubs & Resources directory brings together information about Deaf pubs, clubs, events and other useful resources around the UK. Kim continues to work on it regularly, adding venues and events and improving the website as it develops.
People can also submit pubs, clubs, churches, events and other resources that aren't currently listed, although Kim says this part of the website is still being developed.
But finding somewhere to go was only part of the problem...
“Who can I practise BSL with?”
As Kim became more involved in BSL groups online, she kept noticing people looking for practice partners.
Some were Level 1 learners, others Level 2 or Level 3. They were in different parts of the country, but many were asking variations of the same question: where can I find someone near me who wants to practise?
Deaf pubs and clubs can offer valuable opportunities to meet people and experience BSL outside the classroom, but many events happen only once or twice a month.
Kim began wondering what would happen if the people searching for practice partners could find each other more easily.
That idea became BSL Practice Partners.
The website helps users find other people in their approximate area and connect through a messaging system. They can then choose whether they would like to arrange to meet, perhaps at one of the Deaf events or venues listed in Kim's other directory.
And Kim already knows of at least one connection that has moved from the website into real life: two people found each other through Practice Partners and arranged to meet at a local Deaf pub.
Is BSL Practice Partners only for learners?
No, and this was something we were particularly interested to ask Kim about.
The website is open to both BSL learners and Deaf BSL users.
Learners practising together can reinforce what they've covered in class, while meeting people with different signing experiences can expose them to the much greater variety of BSL used in everyday life. That can include natural BSL structure, vocabulary learners haven't encountered yet and regional variations in signs.
There is an important distinction here, though. Deaf people joining the platform aren't there to provide free BSL tuition. The purpose is to help people connect, communicate and participate. Nobody should assume that a Deaf BSL user has joined because they want to teach or correct other people's signing.
Is it free?
At the moment, BSL Practice Partners is free to use.
Kim told us that she expects it to become a subscription service at some point, but her intention is to keep the cost very low, potentially around £1–£2 per month.
The Deaf pubs, clubs and resources directory can also be accessed online.
What about meeting people safely?
As with any online platform that helps people make new connections, personal safety matters.
Kim advises people arranging to meet someone through Practice Partners to meet in a public place, preferably at a Deaf pub, club or event. She is also reviewing the website to make sure this safety advice is clearly visible to users.
We'd add the same advice ourselves: if you're meeting someone you've connected with online, use normal personal-safety precautions and don't share more personal information than you're comfortable with.
There’s another story behind these resources
What makes Kim's project particularly interesting is that neither website began as a commercial BSL venture. They're part of the wider work of My Mental Wellness UK CIC, a Community Interest Company focused on helping people navigate mental health support through signposting and its Talking Arts & Crafts work.
Its Take P-heART arts and crafts sessions in Sutton have been running weekly since December 2024, usually welcoming between five and ten people.
Much of this work is currently funded by Kim herself.
She told us that income from a small amount of peer-support work, alongside her Universal Credit, helps pay for the websites she builds herself, venue hire, materials for the art service and activities such as attending Deaf pubs and clubs.
That makes the growth of these resources very much a community effort.
How can you support Kim’s work?
Using and sharing the resources is already one way to help more people discover them.
Kim would also welcome donations or funding, including donations of arts and crafts materials for Take P-heART. If you're local to Sutton, visiting the arts and crafts sessions is another way to support the project and the community developing around it.
You can find out more about the wider work of My Mental Wellness UK CIC here:
Kim also has an Easyfundraising page, which allows supporters to raise money for the CIC through eligible shopping without an additional cost to them.
A useful idea born from a real problem
One of the reasons we wanted to share Kim's story on the Deaf Umbrella blog is that the idea behind these resources is remarkably simple:
➝ People were struggling to find current information about Deaf events, so Kim started bringing that information together.
➝ BSL learners were struggling to find people nearby to practise with, so she created somewhere for them to connect.
Both resources are still developing, but they're addressing problems that many people learning BSL will recognise.
And if you're a Deaf BSL user, run a Deaf club or pub, organise events, or know of a useful resource that deserves to be included, you could help make that information easier for other people to find too.
Sometimes a useful community resource begins with somebody asking, “Why is this so difficult to find?” and deciding to do something about it.
Deaf Umbrella is sharing this project independently because we think the resources may be useful to members of our Deaf and BSL-learning communities. This article has been written from information provided by Kim Clarke.
