CLCH staff make a move for Christmas number one with their brand new Makaton hit

Staff from across the Trust have come together to produce a fantastic Makaton sign language rendition of Santa Claus is coming to town (below). 

This amazing performance was coordinated virtually using Makaton, a language programme that uses speech, signs and symbols to support people to communicate more effectively. It is designed to support the development of spoken language and is widely used amongst people with learning disabilities from a young age.

Staff have joined forces with Pursuing Independent Pathways (PIP), PIP is a charity organisation. They work together with adults with learning disabilities and differences to achieve their ambitions, gain skills and opportunities for independence and live a life of their choice.

Principle Speech and Language Therapist Kunden Patel said: “We are using Makaton signing, to promote the use of Makaton to make our message easier to understand.

“We first started making the Christmas videos during the lockdown for a bit of fun with staff. The following year, we were a bit more organised and were able to involve our service users.  It has become the highlight of the year for all of us. I often get prompted as early as September to get going with it!  I’d like to give PIP a massive thank you, as well as K Isaac (Director of Operations, North Central) and her rocking editing skills! Without them and of course our game CLCH staff, we wouldn’t have a video to share.

“I hope you enjoy it as much as we all enjoyed making it!”

To learn more about PIP and to donate visit: https://piponline.org.uk/get-involved/donate/