Over 350 people signed in to take part in a world record attempt for the largest tactile signing lesson.

Tactile signing is a common means of communication used by people who are deafblind (meaning they have both a sight and hearing impairment), which is based on a sign language and involves touch.

The Guinness World Record attempt was organised by the national disability charity, Sense, and the international accountancy and advisory firm, Mazars to raise awareness of the different communication methods used by people with complex disabilities.

Members of the public, staff from Mazars and Sense participated in the lesson that took place in Tower Gardens, by the Tower of London. The 388 participants exceeded the 250 target set by Guinness World Records.

The 30-minute lesson was led by Emma Boswell, who is deafblind and works for Sense. She focused on one form of tactile signing, ‘deafblind manual’, an adapted form of finger spelling taken from British Sign Language (BSL). Each letter is spelt out on the hand, enabling communication by touch alone.

Richard Kramer, Sense Chief Executive, said:

Everyone at Sense is thrilled by the result. This was a wonderful opportunity to learn about how people who are deafblind, and those with complex disabilities, communicate, and also get into the record books!

The evidence will now be sent to Guinness World Records to be officially verified. Anyone wanting to find out more about tactile signing can contact Sense.

Picture by Sense / Mazars.