Mandi was born prematurely and diagnosed as profoundly deaf at 1 years old. Her mother was devastated and worried about all the things that Mandi couldn’t do. However, through her specialist deaf schools Mandi found support and confidence and in her own words; “the only thing I can’t do is answer the phone.”

Mandi’s first introduction to MSDP was through a work placement when she was 17 that was facilitated by her college, she then spent 30 years at one of the world’s leading communication service companies. Mandi enjoyed her job but found the social side of work challenging as she was the only Deaf person in her team. Barriers to communication often meant she was left out or missed parts of conversations.

As MSDP embarked on our resilience programme, a key component to the work was to bring back grass roots services and strengthen community relationships to increase engagement.

Mandi was delighted to be offered the Community Development Officer position and her confidence has soared working in a predominantly Deaf environment.

As a member of the Deaf Community Mandi has always attended MSDP’s Deaf Club. Mandi’s husband is also Deaf and they have 2 hearing children; Dylan and Drew, referred to as CODA’s (Children of Deaf Adults.) Attending the Deaf Club has been invaluable to the boys as they have had the opportunity to meet other children with Deaf parents.

Through Mandi’s energy and infectious enthusiasm in her role, the Deaf Club has expanded to host a variety of activities. The club is going from strength to strength with new, younger Deaf people and families returning to the club. Mandi is an integral part of this upward trend and continuing success.