DCG Success Stories

Learning British Sign Language (BSL) with Derby College Group in 2022 opened up exciting new career opportunities for Amazon associate Donna Burton.

Donna, who attended DCG’s Ilkeston college, progressed through BSL levels 1 and 2 and became Amazon Kegworth fulfilment centre’s first BSL Ambassador.

Four years on, Donna, now 59, has returned to  Derby College, studying for level 3 BSL at the Roundhouse and level 3 functional skills maths at the Joseph Wright Centre.

Her maths course was paid for via the Adult Skills Fund, an initiative run by East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) to help adults gain skills and training to equip them for further learning.

Donna, who has featured in an Amazon company video and been on regional television, is now keen to take her BSL training to the next level.

She said: “As a BSL Ambassador I already help to make communication easier between  hearing-impaired colleagues and managers at Amazon.

“I turn 60 next year but still have so much I want to do, so last year I decided to return to college to get the qualifications I’ll need to become a communication support worker.

“I applied to the Adult Skills Fund online for my maths course and found the funding easy to access.”

Donna currently works in communication support one day a week outside her Amazon role for a gentleman who has Usher syndrome, a rare genetic disorder causing progressive hearing and vision loss.

She added: “I enjoy it and my plan now is to be able to offer BSL communication support to colleagues at Amazon’s fulfilment centres here and around the country.

“I’ve been at Amazon for six and a half years so I’m well versed in the culture and terminology used in our workplace. Having this knowledge helps a lot when communicating in sign language with other Amazon associates.

“For example, at Amazon a COW is a Computer on Wheels – something interpreters from outside the organisation wouldn’t automatically understand.”

Donna, who has Tourette’s, initially started learning BSL at evening classes so she was better able to communicate with deaf associates.

She added: “I used to worry that one of my colleagues in particular might think we were laughing at him as he couldn’t hear us when we were having a joke.

“Tourette’s can cause me to tic when I’m nervous, so I know how it feels to think that everyone’s looking at you.

“Within eight weeks of studying BSL at my Derby College evening classes, I found I could hold conversations with him and other deaf people.

“Over the last few years, my understanding of how BSL works has grown so much.”