Wembley Stadium offering sign language service for every live concert from June 2022

Virgin Radio

20 Oct 2021, 12:53

This is music (read: signing) to our ears. The iconic stadium has announced that sign language will be available for live events from next spring making it the UK’s biggest venue offering the service.

British Sign Language (BSL) was previously only available on certain days or if pre-booked in advance, but it will now be provided by Performance Interpreting Ltd and fully available to those requiring it.

The much-needed service will come into play for Ed Sheeran's upcoming London tour  ‘+ – = ÷ x’ next June 2022 and will continue into the future.

Paul Smyth, head of event operations at Wembley Stadium, said: “We are delighted to be able to offer British Sign Language for our customers at every concert moving forward. We pride ourselves not only on being an inclusive stadium to be enjoyed by all, but also for leading the way in terms of best practice within the industry.

“I’d particularly like to thank our customer engagement manager and disability liaison officer Matt Owen and our partners at Performance Interpreting for working together to bring this ground-breaking service to our venue. We look forward to hosting our Deaf customers at future gigs and hope that they feel the benefit of this vital service at Wembley Stadium.”

Marie Pascall, founder of Performance Interpreting Ltd, added: “We are elated at Wembley Stadium’s decision to provide British Sign Language access for Deaf BSL customers for every show. This will enable thousands of Deaf customers to attend music events on any given date.

“Wembley continues to be a beacon of best practice and this is a huge step in the right direction. We hope other venues will value their Deaf customers and appreciate access in the same way.”

Go Wembley.