SIGNS for change

ROSE AYLING-ELLIS on helping the residents of a retirement village learn a new skill

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Rose Ayling-Ellis describes her latest passion project as an experience that she will 'cherish for a lifetime'. Two-part BBC1 docuseries Old Hands, New Tricks sees the ex-EastEnders star, who has been deaf since birth, head to Buckinghamshire to teach British Sign Language (BSL) to the residents of Hughenden Gardens Retirement Village to help highlight the issue of hearing loss among the older generation and the impact it can have on a person's health and wellbeing. Here, Rose, 30, with the help of an interpreter, chats to TV Times about this unique experiment...

This sounds like a wonderful idea, Rose. How did it come about?

It initially started because there are only two care homes for deaf elderly people in the whole of the UK. But then the idea expanded because an estimated 75% of people over the age of 80 are losing their hearing, and hearing aids aren't always the solution. I wanted to share with older people my experience, my survival techniques and how sign language can change that feeling of isolation.