More than 200 people attended an awareness event today to help improve accessibility for deaf people in the borough.

The Harrow Deaf Awareness Day was organised by the Harrow Asian Deaf Club (HADC) and hosted by Harrow Borough Council at the civic centre.

The day features talks and discussion groups to talk about accessibility of services for deaf people and their families in the borough.

Club president Asif Iqbal said: "This has been a really successful day and is a great opportunity for deaf people to find out about the services available to them.

“It is also a chance for service providers to talk to deaf people and find out how they can improve.”

At the event there were more than 20 stands from different service providers including pupils from Hatch End High School, Harrow Leisure centre, the Royal Association for Deaf People, Harrow Council and a hearing dogs charity.

The day was kicked off with a speech from the Mayor of Harrow councillor Nizam Ismail.

He said: "It is important for all of us to work together to promote services and make them more accessible for all deaf people who live and work in Harrow.

“It is also important for us to learn from one another about how we can improve these services.”

Special guest for the event was the Deputy Lieutenant for Harrow John Purnell and his wife Margaret, patrons of HADC who both introduced themselves using British Sign Language.

Mr Purnell said: “Today is a really important day for deaf people living in Harrow. A lot of great work has been done but we need to improve understanding to make facilities more accessible for all.”

Throughout the day there has been a number of question time sessions with heads of services, including Deaf Equality Officer Iain Sutherland from Bristol City Council, for people to share their experiences of being deaf in Harrow.