Publish date: 18 December 2023
On Friday 15 December a large crowd turned out to watch Ealing Community Partners’ Speech and Language Therapy Team perform popular Christmas Carols with Makaton sign language in Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre.
Dozens of participants, including the Mayor of Ealing, Councillor Hitesh Tailor, flocked to the stage to join Hannah Howell-Day and Zoe Wilkinson from the Speech and Language Team in performing songs including We Wish You A Merry Christmas and Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer.
Many of the participants were from local community groups for people with learning disabilities including Ealing Mencap and Dare2Dream. Additional performers were children from Christ the Saviour Church of England Primary School and South Acton Children's Centre Nursery. Impact Theatre also performed a dance to White Christmas. Other songs included Jingle Bells, Away In A Manger, 12 Days Of Christmas and Silent Night.
Ahmed, Ealing Mencap:
“This has been a beautiful way of integrating people with learning difficulties with the local community. It has provided a perfect opportunity for them to experience social inclusion.”
Hannah Howell-Day, Clinical Lead for Early Years Speech and Language Therapy:
“Makaton is an inclusive, unique language programme that uses symbols, signs and speech to enable people to communicate. It supports the development of essential communication skills such as attention and listening, comprehension, memory, recall and organisation of language and expression.”
Videos from the event can be found on our YouTube Channel here.