20 Years of Inclusion and Impact: The Growth of The Scottish Sensory Hub

Dr Hannah Tweed reflects on 20 years of the Scottish Sensory Hub, the important work they do and why it matters.

Most of us will experience Deafness, Deafblindness or Visual Impairment – if not now, then in older age. That’s why the work of the Scottish Sensory Hub is so important.

Who are we? 

The Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (ALLIANCE) Scottish Sensory Hub brings together expertise spanning disability research, health and social care, and community engagement work. The team includes Hannah, Amy, Lewis and Ellie.

In terms of our programme’s history, that’s a bit more complicated.  

We formed in 2021, following the merger of DeafScotland and the Scottish Council on Visual Impairment – and at the same time, became an ALLIANCE programme. Since then, we have become Scotland’s only national forum for people who are Deaf, Deafblind, or who have a Visual Impairment. We deliver cross-sensory research, policy, and campaign work, in partnership with members and supporters from across the sensory sector.  

What do we do? 

Our work involves juggling a lot of plates to address the persistent barriers that people who are Deaf, Deafblind, or who have Visual Impairments face every day in Scotland. If we look back over the timeline of our work over the last twenty years, members of the Scottish Sensory Hub programme have been actively involved in: 

• The British Sign Language (Scotland) Act 2015, and the two round of national and local plans that stemmed from that legislation. 
• The See Hear Strategy (2014) and over a decade of subsequent work to support sensory work across Scotland, at local and national levels. 
• Campaigning for the pilot and retention of the Contact Scotland BSL service (2015, 2016, and 2025). 
• The Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland (2023), and subsequent activity to improve audiology services. 
• Campaign work on a definition of Deafblindness for Scotland (accepted by the Scottish Parliament in 2025). 
• The development and launch of vision rehabilitation courses in Scotland, to enable a sustainable workforce of Vision Rehabilitation Specialists and Assistants (2025). 
• Campaign work to improve communication for all – from involvement in the development of the Scottish Government’s Principles of Inclusive Communication (2011), to our most recent campaign, More than Words: Communication for All (2025). 

Why does this matter? 

Deafness, Deafblindness or Visual Impairment will be experienced by most of us as some point in our life. Right now, 1 in 3 people in Scotland are Deaf – yet there is little in the way of coordinated planning to enable everyone to have equal access to public life.  

Looking to the future, it’s easy to see both the breadth of challenge ahead, but also the potential for change. In the last year alone, the Scottish Sensory Hub team have seen significant changes – from the renewed commitment to Contact Scotland BSL by the Scottish Government, to the formal acceptance of a definition of Deafblindness for Scotland, with progress on developing care pathways.  

Looking through the Scottish Sensory Hub archives in preparation for writing this, it’s clear that collaboration has been at the forefront of work in this area since the outset – along with a persistent drive to challenge injustice. Minutes from the 1890s through the 1960s and into the twenty-first century show the drive for change. Equally clear is that the most effective campaign work stemmed from partnership working – when people and groups across Scotland work together for change.

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