Pictured above: The M&S ‘Sign Club’
A Thurmaston M&S café has launched a weekly ‘Sign Club’ to help build a bridge to the deaf community after an employee shared tips on Tik Tok.
The club launched on Thursday, June 16, at M&S Thurmaston on Barkby Thorpe Lane, with sessions occurring between 3pm to 5pm and anyone who knows British Sign Language is welcome.
The club welcomes deaf and hearing individuals and allows people to brush up on their skills, with attendees encouraged to practice and learn to help bring the community together whilst enjoying food and drink at the M&S Café.
M&S Customer Advisor Ineke Doesburg, who has worked at M&S Thurmaston for almost four years, said: “Languages and curiosity about other cultures seem to be engraved in my DNA.
“I love reaching out to people and learning more about them. It is part of my Dutch culture, where bilingualism is quite common.
“I don’t like it when people are being left out, which is why I started learning British Sign Language – to communicate better.”
Ineke has practised sign language for several years and shared videos on the TikTok channel to inspire others to learn the language.
The club was first announced on M&S Thurmaston’s TikTok and Facebook accounts by Ineke.
M&S Customer Advisor Ineke Doesburg on Tik Tok
Ineke practised her sign language skills on the M&S Thurmaston Tik Tok channels, showcasing café specials, with social media followers loving her videos and praising her online.
Ineke said: “Even though I am far from fluent, I have been able to help several deaf customers with queries at the collection desk and look forward to bringing the community together and, through this, helping many more.”
The team looked at ways of connecting with the community through their café and wanted to create inclusive clubs for those with hearing impairments.
M&S Thurmaston is one of over 600 M&S stores with its own social media accounts on TikTok and Facebook.
Set up during the pandemic to communicate with local customers the availability of essential items and opening hours, they said they evolved into a’ highly effective and engaging way’ for M&S stores to reach local customers and communities.
M&S Stores’ accounts have become famous over the last two years, with the likes of Romford leading the way.
Team Romford released a Christmas single (following demands from TikTok fans), which made it to Number 2 on the iTunes Charts last December.
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