- EE launches “Support. It’s In Your Hands”, a campaign to keep the 87,000 British Sign Language users in the Deaf community involved in the football conversation by encouraging the use of sign language in both deaf and non-deaf communities
- In partnership with the Royal Association for Deaf people (RAD) and the Home Nations Football Associations, EE is upskilling the nation with British Sign Language (BSL) tutorials from the likes of Harry Kane, Mary Earps, Bukayo Saka, Rachel Corsie, Sarina Wiegman and Dion Charles
- As the lead partner of the Home Nations Football Associations, EE has created a hero film showcasing how BSL is incorporated in football, as well as a host of content designed to teach football-themed BSL phrases. EE will also engage content creators to help teach the basics of BSL through the football lens and will facilitate training for colleagues in Deaf Awareness courses
- The integrated campaign will run across online, targeted social and PR from Thursday 21 March.
Today, EE launches its new campaign ‘Support. It’s In Your Hands’, enlisting a host of footballing stars from across the four Home Nations to upskill the nation in British Sign Language (BSL) and help everyone feel a part of the football conversation.
While an estimated 1.2 million adults in the UK have hearing loss severe enough to impede most conversational speech, there are approximately only 150,000 BSL users (87,000 of whom are deaf). The integrated campaign endeavors to change this by leveraging EE’s lead partnership of the Home Nations Football Associations to celebrate BSL and use sport as a catalyst to encourage the use of sign language in deaf and non-deaf communities.
The campaign, which was created with support from the Royal Association for Deaf people (RAD) and the Home Nations Football Associations, launches with a film that shows all the ways, knowingly and unknowingly, BSL is incorporated in football, from the grassroots game to the international stage.
The film has been created using a mix of archive footage, fan user-generated content and original content to show how BSL, as a combination of hand gestures, facial expressions and body language, goes hand in hand with how referees, players, managers and fans communicate in the game.
The film aims to drive viewers to the EE LearnSmart platform which will provide resources to support the learning of football themed BSL, including “goal”, ”shoot”, “great defending” or “great tackle” so everyone can actively participate in the conversation surrounding the game. International footballers from the four Home Nations, including Harry Kane, Mary Earps, Bukayo Saka, Rachel Corsie, Sarina Wiegman and Dion Charles, will also feature on EE LearnSmart teaching BSL phrases in the form of easily digestible bitesize content.
To further amplify the campaign, EE will activate across a range of touchpoints including:
- Playing the film at England’s sold out friendly against Brazil at Wembley Stadium connected by EE and allocating two of its mascot spaces to deaf children who will sign the National Anthem with guidance from RAD’s accredited British Sign Language performer.
- Supporting the campaign with a paid media and amplification strategy across EE and its partner’s social channels, including the Home Nations Football Associations, RAD, Deaf creators and Deaf community groups. EE will harness FA partner channels to distribute content to promote the use of and learning of BSL. The highlight of these being the ‘EE BSL challenge’ which sees three male England players take on three Lionesses in an obstacle course that requires them to complete sign-based challenges with the help of four England Deaf squad players.
- Assembling a squad of five content creators to spread the message of inclusivity far and wide: the squad will consist of Shiona McClafferty, Jazzy Whipps, India Morse, Leon Walker Dobson and Ray Bradshaw, who will produce engaging content that helps teach the basics of BSL through the football lens.
- Facilitating training for its colleagues in Deaf Awareness courses which include some BSL basics. By encouraging greater Deaf Awareness internally, EE will also contribute to further Deaf Awareness and British Sign Language learning across BT Group, alongside an accessibility audit for consumer facing webpages.
Julie Ratcliffe, Royal Association for Deaf people, Chief Operating Officer said: “The Royal Association for Deaf people proudly supports this campaign, dedicated to empowering football fans across the UK and championing inclusivity for deaf and hard of hearing communities. As one of the oldest charities supporting deaf people in the UK, RAD is delighted to offer our expertise and support to this initiative, which promises to upskill the nation in the basics of football themed BSL.”
Pete Jeavons, Marketing Communications Director, BT & EE said: “We are committed to ensuring football is a sport for all. As the lead partner of the Home Nations Football Associations, we are proud to drive positive transformation and make the game more accessible for everyone. ‘Support. It’s In Your Hands’ aims to bring about tangible change and increase awareness of British Sign Language. We want to encourage everyone to play their part and make a difference to the shared enjoyment of the beautiful game.”
Lucy Basden-Smith, Managing Director, Havas Play UK, said: “British Sign Language acts as a communication bridge between communities. With this campaign, we wanted to show that by everyone learning even just a little BSL, we can help to ensure that all football fans are involved in the conversation. It is our hope that ‘Support. It’s In Your Hands’ will empower the nation to embrace equality in the ways we support and consume the game”.
The “Support. It’s In Your Hands” campaign is part of EE’s ongoing and longstanding commitment to supporting the para & disability community in football and beyond. Last season this came to life through “New Signing” a campaign which saw the world’s first BSL pundits on televised sport. This is just the start for EE with many more activations planned for the coming year that reinforce EE’s commitment in supporting the Deaf community and people with hearing loss.
‘Support. It’s In Your Hands’ was created by EE’s brand experience and partnerships agency, Havas Play. Digital content on the LearnSmart platform was developed by Digitas, with media planned and bought by EssenceMediacomX, and PR handled by Pitch Marketing Group.
EE also worked closely with Royal Association for Deaf people (RAD) as a Charity Partner throughout the campaign to ensure that all accessibility requirements are met.
For more information on how to learn BSL and sign your support, visit eelearnsmart.co.uk.
This press release has been written to meet language principles which make it easier and more accessible to translate into British Sign Language.
-ENDS-
About EE
EE is one of UK’s largest subscription businesses, backed by the UK’s biggest and fastest mobile network, offering superfast connections in more places than any other operator.
Built on the foundation of decades of mobile and broadband leadership, EE is on a mission to be the most personal and customer-focused brand in the UK by playing a more meaningful role in customers’ lives, with a suite of exciting products and services open to all UK consumers, available via a new ‘EE ID’ digital platform.
EE’s mobile network continues to receive extensive recognition including UK’s best overall network by RootMetrics® every year since 2014, as well as being named Network of the Year at the 2022 Mobile Industry Awards.
EE is committed to offering first-class service in the industry and has over 400 stores across the UK. EE remains the only mobile provider to answer 100% of customer calls in the UK and Ireland and was recognised as the UK’s Best Large Contact Centre by the UK Customer Experience Awards 2018 and Welsh Contact Centre Awards 2019.
EE was awarded The Sunday Times’ Best 100 Companies to Work for in 2018 and 2019, as well as being named Best Employer 2018 by the European Contact Centre & Customer Service awards. EE won Best Repair Service and Best Network Provider at the Mobile Industry Awards in September 2023 and was recognised as the provider that does more than any other to deliver a great service.
EE is part of BT Group’s Consumer business unit which provides products and services to all of BT’s consumer customers in the UK.
Follow us on:
- Facebook at: www.facebook.com/ee
- Twitter at: www.twitter.com/ee
- YouTube at: www.youtube.com/ee
- LinkedIn at: www.linkedin.com/company/ee-uk
