Tickets are FREE for D/Deaf audiences.

For all other tickets £15 (full); £10 (concessions)

Join us for a fascinating day of talks from four inspiring Deaf role models. The symposium will include presentations from Shaun Fitzgerald, Dr Sara Rhys Jones, Ruth Montgomery, and Levi Slade, with opportunities for questions and conversations throughout.

Deaf Gathering Cymru Symposium is generously supported by SignHealth: The Deaf Health Charity

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Presentations

Shaun Fitzgerald: Overcoming Barriers and Embracing Adventure

Shaun Fitzgerald will take us on an inspiring journey of resilience and determination as he shares his personal experiences as a Deaf individual navigating the world!

Join us for a peek into Shaun’s life story; insights into how to overcome physical and societal obstacles to achieve your goals; the importance of maintaining a positive mindset; the rewards of stepping out of your comfort zone, and practical tips to help you pursue your own dreams and ambitions.

Dr Sara Rhys Jones: ACTivate Your Life – Deaf Wellbeing and Mindfulness

Sara Rhys Jones will introduce us to ACTivate Your Life, a free BSL course designed to help improve your mental health and wellbeing. She’ll also talk about mindfulness, explain how it helps her own wellbeing and share examples of how we can take care of our own mental and physical health.

Ruth Montgomery: “There’s no point in doing music if you're deaf, is there?”

“There’s no point in doing music if you're deaf, is there?”: 20 years post-graduation from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Ruth Montgomery investigates if the title of her 2005 dissertation is as relevant now as it was then.

Looking back over the years, this engaging and interactive session will focus on the employment landscape, attitudes towards Deaf musicians and their place in the music industry.

Levi Slade shares her Deaf creative journey, which was transformed after she attended Deaf Together in 2023.

Levi’s journey has been slightly different to most, stepping into the Deaf community aged 29.

She attended her first symposium at Deaf Together in 2023 and was instantly inspired to make a difference. This led to a year of education, workshops, and performance including at Deaf Rave.

Boxing grounds her and has been her base and therapy throughout. She signed up to take part in her first boxing show in June 2023 and as a Deaf person, shared her experiences to educate those around her.

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About the speakers

Shaun Fitzgerald

Shaun is an inspiring Deaf motivational speaker, actor and adventurer who’s captivated audiences with his remarkable life story and achievements. With a passion for pushing boundaries and overcoming challenges, he’s become a well-known figure in both the Deaf and hearing communities.

As a motivational speaker, Shaun draws from his personal experiences to empower others to pursue their dreams and break through barriers, encouraging them to embrace their unique strengths and perspectives.

In addition to his speaking engagements, his appearances on Channel 4’s First Dates and BBC’s See Hear have showcased his talent and charisma, earning him recognition and admiration from viewers across the UK.

An adventurer at heart, Shaun is always seeking new challenges and experiences. Whether scaling mountains, exploring remote destinations, or taking on physical feats, he embodies the spirit of adventure and resilience.

Deaf Gathering Cymru: Shaun Fitzgerald (youtube.com)

Dr Sara Rhys Jones

Sara has been a clinical psychologist since 2003 and was the first Deaf clinical psychologist in the UK.

She was born profoundly Deaf to a hearing Welsh-speaking family, attended mainstream schools and didn’t learn BSL until her early twenties. She went to Cardiff University to study psychology and completed a PhD in psychology in BSL and Deaf identity.

She worked at National Deaf CAMHS in London for a few years before returning to Cardiff to work in the Community Support Team (CST) for Adults with Learning Disabilities. Since 2019, she’s been the Psychology Lead for Bridgend CST for Adults with Learning Disabilities and has a team of regular BSL interpreters for her clinical work. She also specialises in the field of Deafness and mental health.

To relax, she enjoys spending time with her son, family and friends, going for walks, yoga, cooking and playing the drums in an African-Brazilian band in Cardiff!

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Ruth Montgomery

Ruth Montgomery is a professional musician, teacher, workshop facilitator and artist. As a classically trained musician with a passion for modern works, she also explores art, sign language and visual media within the Deaf community and features them in her current project, Audiovisability. She was a Clore Leadership Fellow (2018-19) and has been a winner of the Francesca Hanley inspiration award for her services to music and for Audiovisability projects.

Ruth studied the flute with Chris Molloy at Mary Hare Grammar School for the Deaf and continued with her music studies at Trinity College of Music.

In 2005 she graduated with a 2:1 Bachelor of Music Honours degree majoring in Flute Performance at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. Most adjudicators who assessed her degree performances had no idea that she was deaf.

Unfazed by her Deafness, she went on to work in the field of music. She was given the opportunity to perform with some of the world’s best orchestras as a soloist playing the Danzi Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic in London at Cadogan Hall and the Russian National Orchestra in Moscow and St Petersburg with the Music of Life Foundation, and with Dame Evelyn Glennie as a guest Soloist. Ruth’s musical experiences in Russia and London was filmed and shown on BBC See Hear (2006) as Music Has No Bars with British Sign Language (BSL).

Ruth is currently based in Essex UK and has studied with some of the country’s most respected flautists including Roger Armstrong, Ann Cherry, William Bennett, Christine Messiter, Karen Jones, Patricia Morris, Wissam Boustany and James Kortum to name a few.

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