Transforming from Sainsbury’s to ‘Signsbury’s’ for a four-day period, the store installed digital screens throughout to demonstrate how to sign different words and phrases such as ‘milk’ and ‘trolley’.

Young shoppers also had the chance to win a free fruit snack by taking part in a ‘Sign for a Snack’ challenge.
The initiative was part of Sainsbury’s 150 Days of Community scheme, launched in celebration of its 150th anniversary.

The idea for encouraging sign language in the Bath store came from store manager, Paul Robertson, and deaf colleague, Sam Brook, who saw the anniversary celebrations as an opportunity to make the shop more deaf-friendly and encourage better communication in a supportive environment.

Robertson says: “We have many hard of hearing customers in Bath and always want to make their experience as brilliant as possible, and we hope Signsbury’s will help better their time in store even more.”

Rachel Shenton, ambassador of National Deaf Children’s Society adds: “This is a fantastic initiative to be involved in. It’s been brilliant to see the colleagues of Sainsbury’s be so engaged in the idea and it’s a great step towards inclusivity for the deaf community.

“This feels like the start of something exciting and I hope it encourages more people to get involved.”

This isn’t the first time Sainsbury’s has supported the deaf community. In 2016, the supermarket chain launched ‘Life Doesn’t Come Without Subtitles’, a film to teach colleagues and the public to sign.

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