Building confidence in deaf children in Portsmouth

The Saturday Kids Zone in Portsmouth provides a safe welcoming space for deaf children and their families, helping them build confidence, friendships, and a positive sense of identity.

They're finalists in the Community Group category in BBC Radio Solent's Make a Difference Awards for 2026.

The group was set up by Lindsey Piasco and reporter Kim Michaels went along to St Coleman's Church Hall in Portsmouth to meet them.

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Games, toys, crafting, and Lego, the Church Hall here is packed with happy parents, busy volunteers, and very excited children, all running up to see Clubly de Lindsey. I spoke to Eloise and Robin who told me why they enjoy it so much.

"I really just like, um, spending time with people who understand what's like to be deaf, really. Because at school, um, you don't really, not many people are deaf. They're just like ordinary people."

"About our activity, friend stuff to do, and making new friends. And crafting."

Laura Hollings' daughter goes to the group, too. She put Lindsey forward for the award, saying her kindness, humour, and dedication make her a true inspiration.

"She's created such a lovely group for the children to be part of, and very inclusive. They all come and they on so well, it's somewhere for them to come and be part of something that they maybe don't fit into inside of school."

Adding she's gone above and beyond to create unforgettable experiences for these children, including things like farm trips, soft play sessions, parties, theatre visits, and activity days as well. And that message of love for Lindsey, and appreciation of what she's doing, was repeated throughout.

Hearing mum, Emily Ward, wanted to tell me the positive impact it's had on her family.

"I've just passed my level one BSL, and me and Jacob, we'd learn one new sign every morning as part of our morning routine, and that was all through Lindsey and this club. I love it. It's a lovely community."

She set up the club in 2017, when she couldn't find one for her son to go to. He was struggling to socialise and make friends at school at the time. She's got four children, three are deaf, as she is herself, she has a cochlear implant. She talked to me about the impact the gathering has on the youngsters.

"When they first arrive at the club, they're very shy and nervous, but what I love the most is over the time that they come to the club, their confidence grows profoundly, they get so confident, and they make things, and the things they make is what is the most important, and they feel safe. It's a safe space for them to be themselves."

Beth Whitley's from the South Hampshire group of the National Deaf Children's Society told me that most deaf children are born to hearing parents, and explains why the monthly event is so vital.

"One of the big things that we see time and time again for deaf kids and for their families is how important it is having death role models. So Lindsey herself, her personal experience growing up, and then also having peers around them."

The group's grown from nearly 50 who turned up on that very first day to almost 70 families now. There's also a club for teenagers too, and Lindsey has this message for anyone else out there.

"We just want all the deaf children in Hampshire to know that we are here for them to join and to meet other deaf children like themselves, and for the families to meet the other families, and just to always be here together."