Ian K Townsley is Deaf. After working as Deaf Studies co-ordinator at Wolverhampton University he realised there was a gap in delivering high-level BSL (British Sign Language) to people wanting to train as Interpreter's. He decided to found his own business with the aim of providing quality training delivered by a reputable Deaf tutorial team, and after many months of intensive research he started M2ACE in May 1999, teaching his own native language of BSL (British Sign Language) to students in the Yorkshire/ Humberside and Cleveland Regions. Five years down the line M2ACE now has a solid reputation for delivering high quality BSL training, with a small-dedicated team of deaf tutors, course counsellors and admin support.

As an approved training centre for the nationally recognised CACDP (Council for Advanced Communication with Deaf People) qualification, the company's main area of work has been their British Sign Language skills training leading to the NVQ level 3 Qualification. 2003 saw their most successful year to date with 42 students taking this course. For 2004 M2ACE has now included an element on 'filling the gap', by adding the Communication Support Worker qualification to it's NVQ level 3 courses, as well as delivering the much sought after BSL NVQ level 4, providing the higher level of linguistics students need to become a successful Interpreter.

This year will also see M2ACE working towards delivering a higher understanding of Deaf Awareness and Equality to both commercial companies and public organisations, in readiness for the new additions to the DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) becoming effective from October. As Ian also works as a professional on-screen signer for broadcast television, he and the M2ACE team will work closely in this area in association with Access Communication, providing advice and insight which will help deliver the highest quality BSL video programmes.

M2ACE

PO Box 438 Doncaster DN4 6GH

01302 535566 (fax) 01302 531661 (voice/text)