Blenheim Palace to launch sign language tour guides

Blenheim Palace has partnered with Heritage Interpreters and City Lit College to deliver the scheme, aiming to improve accessibility across the heritage sector.

The programme, launching in September this year, will train deaf individuals to lead BSL tours at major national attractions.

Heather Carter, managing director of visitor attraction at Blenheim Palace, said: “Despite successful training courses for deaf BSL guides, taught by deaf tutors in the past, the demand for training has always exceeded the supply and training has waned in the last decade.

“At Blenheim Palace we are committed to making our attraction and its history as accessible as possible, and this special partnership to create a programme to train more BSL deaf tour guides is a natural and vital progression for us.

“We are excited that other heritage attractions will then be able to share this valuable resource.”

The announcement follows pilot deaf-led BSL tours held in 2025 and 2026, led by John Wilson, a deaf BSL guide.

Applications for the programme will open in April via the Heritage Interpreters website.

Participants will receive professional training to deliver engaging, authentic tours in BSL, with the goal of expanding the network of deaf-led guides at heritage sites across the UK.