British Sign Language (BSL) Advisory Board
The BSL Advisory Board is a non-statutory board of 19 people – mostly BSL users – including 2 co-chairs. The board was established in December 2022 to advise the government on issues that are important to Deaf people, and on how to put the BSL Act into practice.
The BSL Advisory Board is a non-statutory, dual language (BSL and English) board made up of 19 members, including 2 co-chairs. It was established following the BSL Act in 2022 to advise the UK government on matters of importance to Deaf people and on the implementation of the BSL Act.
The board works closely with ministers and government officials to inform policy development, and to improve the government’s communication with BSL users and the Deaf community. Each board serves a 3-year tenure and is led by 2 co-chairs, one a BSL user, and the other a senior civil servant.
Role
The board meets regularly to:
- identify and discuss issues affecting BSL users when they access public services
- advise government departments on how to improve inclusion for BSL users, including through the delivery of departments’ BSL plans
- share good practice and support consistent approaches across government
The board identifies and discusses the key issues faced by the Deaf community through a number of subgroups focused on specific themes.
Between 2022 and 2025, the board’s subgroups have focused on education, health and social care, government communications, technology, and issues faced by Deafblind people.
Members
The BSL Advisory Board is co-chaired by Craig Crowley MBE FRSA and a senior civil servant.
See the BSL Advisory Board members introduce themselves on YouTube
Craig Crowley (co-chair)
Craig Crowley is CEO of Action Deafness, a Deaf-led charity providing BSL interpreting and community support. He was founder Chair and Honorary President of UK Deaf Sport and received an MBE in 2006 for his service to Deaf Sport. He has also been a former Trustee of Signature and founding Trustee of the National Register of Communication Professionals working with Deaf People. He currently serves as a Trustee for the Royal School for the Deaf Derby.
Alexandra Gowlland (co-chair)
Alexandra Gowlland has been the Deputy Director of the Disability Unit in the Cabinet Office since March 2023. She joined the Civil Service in 2011, and previously worked in the Cabinet Office, Government Equalities Office, Department of Health and Social Care, and Department for Education. She started her career working in public affairs in London, Brussels and Washington DC.
Vicki Ashmore
Vicky is a Deaf/Deafblind interpreter. She is one of the co-founders and Director/Assistant Director of BRIGHT Deafblind. Vicky is also a board member of Bromley Reform Synagogue.
Joanna Atkinson (health and social care subgroup chair)
Joanna is a clinical specialist and lecturer specialising in neuropsychology. She provides cognitive, brain injury and mental health assessments, therapy and rehabilitation with Deaf adults and children. She works with BSL users with brain conditions including dementia, stroke, developmental disorders and head injuries. Her scientific research has led to new BSL diagnostic tools and new understanding of how people think in BSL, how the brain processes BSL and the nature of BSL hallucinations and other clinical phenomena. She is a member of the British Deaf Association, SENSE, Deafblind UK and British Society of Mental Health and Deafness.
Theresa Devine
Teri is a CODA (Child of Deaf Adult). She works as Associate Director for Strategic Programme – Inclusion at the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID). She is currently a Trustee at Forth Valley Sensory Centre and also a member of the Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee (Glasgow) Committee. She was formerly Vice Chair of Dumfries and Galloway Hard of Hearing Group (July 2011 to September 2017).
Catherine Drew
Catherine is the Deputy Headteacher of Frank Barnes School for Deaf Children, which is the leading dual language Deaf school in the UK. She has worked in Deaf education for over 20 years, overcoming the barriers relating to class and Deafness to become a teacher and then using her lived experience to mentor others. Alongside this work, Catherine has worked with a number of international deaf organisations to coordinate Deaf education policy and best practice. Catherine is also a great public speaker for both Deaf and hearing audiences.
Zoe Fudge-Ajadi
Zoe is Deafblind and she is one of the co-founders and Director/Assistant Director of BRIGHT Deafblind.
Abigail Gorman
Abigail is Policy and Research manager for SignHealth, a Deaf Health charity that focuses on improving the health and wellbeing of Deaf people through the provision of services in British Sign Language, including Outreach, Registered Care, Advocacy, Domestic Abuse and Psychological Therapies. She is also the Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees for the British Deaf Association. She is also a trustee of BSL Zone, the leading BSL TV channel in the UK.
Gaye Hampton (employment subgroup chair)
Gaye is a project manager at Directions Plus. She is also a qualified translator and advisory to Signature and NRCPD as well as being a member of the Wales Council for Deaf People.
Asif Iqbal (local authorities subgroup chair)
Asif is Deaf and is a Rehabilitation Officer for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people with Camden Council. He has spent his career in the public and not for profit sectors – local and central government along with health services – to increase representation and remove barriers for deaf and disabled people. Asif has been President of the Harrow and Brent United Deaf Club since 2009 and is a past Chair of Camden Disability Network. He is also a Chair of Hearing Loss Professionals UK Network, sharing knowledge and expertise with NHS England and key stakeholders. Asif has also appeared on various TV shows including BBC2’s Impossible, LetterBox and Channel 4 Political Slot. He has been an extra on Coronation Street and Eastenders. Asif was awarded MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2011 for public service.
Richard MacQueen
Richard works for Deaf Action as Head of Video Production. He is a Trustee for National Registers of Communication Professionals working with Deaf and Deafblind People, and formerly Deaf Links (2010 to 2016).
Erin McCluskey
Erin is a student who was a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament from 2019 to 2021 and passed a motion in relation to public services and ensuring accessibility for BSL users. She is a Trustee for the West Scotland Deaf Children’s Society and works for the British Deaf Association in Scotland, as a freelance outreach worker.
Ahmed Mudawi
Ahmed works as a TV presenter for ‘This is Deaf’ under BSL Zone. He is studying to be a qualified translator and deaf relay interpreter. He provides Deaf awareness training, and is a member of St Johns Community Deaf Club in London, the British Deaf Association (BDA), Clapham Deaf Club, ASLI (Association Sign Language Interpreter), Colour Interpreters Network and Black Deaf UK.
Richard Platt
Richard is Chairman of Ipswich Deaf Children’s Society. He is also a committee member of the Children’s Hearing Services Working Group.
Kate Reed (education subgroup co-chair)
Kate works as Headteacher of Deaf Provisions across Primary and Secondary with a Deaf-led team. She previously worked with the Department for Education (DfE) at a national level as an Inclusion Expert for Deaf Education and SEND for several years. She is a member of BATOD and committee for Deaf Teachers of the Deaf. In 2020, she was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship for ‘International Research of Deaf Education’. Since 2017 she has worked with Manchester University and Leeds University to support Teachers of the Deaf, and since 2016, she has worked with the BSL Consortium for Education.
Sylvia Simmonds (education subgroup co-chair)
Sylvia is a full time Deaf advocate officer with Total Communication at Reading. She advocates for Deaf people in a variety of areas, and specialises in legal work with a focus on cultural mediation in court and BSL translation of legal documents. As part of the COVID-19 pandemic she took on a large project focusing on making information accessible to BSL users. She has been involved with the British Deaf Association for 39 years as vice chair, trustee, and member of staff. She is also currently a trustee with the British Society for Mental Health and Deaf people. She was LGBTQ+ advisory to the World Federation for the Deaf and was a Trustee of the Deaf Women’s Health Organisation and is currently on the Data Ethics Committee of Thames Valley Police.
Samantha Stocken
Samantha is a teacher, volunteer in a hospital, and trustee for Gloucestershire Deaf Association (GDA). Samantha advocates for her son who is Deaf. She is an Educational Consultant in Gloucestershire who works as “Deaf Aware”, so she can support schools where d/Deaf children attend or have d/Deaf parents/carers.
Mangayarkkarasy Sutharsan
Mangai works as Director of Empowering Deaf Society - a charity that delivers employment support, advocacy and advice in BSL. She is a Trustee of Suvai Deaf East Community (reaches 480 Deaf people across London). She is a qualified BSL teacher and ran her own BSL training company Deaf Touch Ltd until 2014. She also formerly worked at the Royal Association for Deaf People.
Martin Thacker
Martin works as Deputy Director at the National Deaf Children’s Society; Vice President of Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire Deaf Society; Committee member of North Derbyshire Deaf Forum; Member of Derbyshire Constabulary Deaf Advisory Group; and Member of CODA UK. He is also a Conservative Councillor on North East Derbyshire District Council, for the Brampton and Walton ward.
Meetings
The BSL Advisory Board meets every 3 months.
Read the BSL Advisory Board meeting summaries.
Terms of reference
Read the terms of reference for the BSL Advisory Board on GOV.UK.
Rebecca Mansell, CEO, British Deaf Association, said:
What the BSL Advisory Board has done in the last 3 years is truly remarkable. I applaud them. They are all Deaf sign language users who are using their influence on government.
Oral evidence to the Women and Equalities Committee, Access to British Sign Language, 10 September 2025. Read the transcript of this session – also available in PDF – or watch the session on Parliament TV.