Our History
UK Council on Deafness was founded by a consortium of deaf organisations to improve co-operation between members in promoting and representing the interests of deaf, deafened, deafblind and hard of hearing people.
The council was established in 1993 with 33 founding members and became a registered charity in 1994. Chris Shaw developed the structure of the council and Sally Hawkins was appointed as the first Director. The Council took over the roles of lobbying government to improve Access for Deaf People and distributing Opportunities for Volunteering Grants.
UKCoD is a vital interface with government, hosting conferences which address many different issues affecting deaf people
In 1998 a grant was awarded by the National Lottery Charities Board to fund the Deaf Action Project. Then in 2000 three years funding was secured by UKCoD from the Department of Health and membership had grown to 55 organisations.
Since then UKCoD has hosted represented the deaf sector on many policy issues, hosted conferences, and continued to be an interface with government. It also coordinates national Deaf Awareness Week.