Dalglish family joins campaign to teach fans to sign YNWA before West Ham match

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Carlsberg's Signs of Unity campaign aims to teach every Liverpool fan to sign and sing before kick-off on SaturdayKenny Dalglish and Kelly Cates learn to sign YNWA - CarlsbergSir Kenny Dalglish and daughter Kelly Cates, the Match of the Day co-host and Sky Sports presenter, have given their backing to a Carlsberg initiative supported by the British Deaf Association that will see Liverpool supporters sign and sing the club's anthem, You'll Never Walk Alone, before kick-off against West Ham United at Anfield on Saturday (Feb 28).Men's team players Curtis Jones, Jeremie Frimpong and Cody Gakpo and women's team players Fuka Nagano, Gemma Evans and Rachael Laws have joined Sir Kenny and Kelly in appearing in campaign videos taking part in British Sign Language (BSL) signs for 'You'll never walk alone'.The initiative, which launched last month and is named Signs of Unity, is the result of collaboration between the Danish drinks company, Liverpool Football Club and the British Deaf Association.READ MORE: 'Complete nonsense' - Jurgen Klopp exit strongly denied as Red Bull make stance clearREAD MORE: Spanish media give scathing review of Trent Alexander-Arnold as star faces brutal realityA social media campaign has been launched alongside displays within the stadium concourse to teach supporters the four signs for 'you'll never walk alone' in the Scouse dialect of BSL.To agree on an appropriate translation, Carlsberg and the British Deaf Association formed the Carlsberg Fan Council, comprising Deaf Liverpool fans, linguists and sign-song experts.Research from Carlsberg found that 81% of d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing fans want to take part in matchday chants but feel unable to do so, highlighting just one of the barriers that these supporters face in feeling fully included in the matchday experience.As a central part of Liverpool fan culture, and an expression of its core values of solidarity and mutual support, singing and signing You'll Never Walk Alone is an opportunity for all fans to come together in support of each other and the team.Sir Kenny said: "You can understand d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing fans feeling as if they've missed out on part of the matchday experience, but at the end of the day, we want everyone to be all one."There are other people who get assistance for the game and there's no reason to think because you're hard of hearing that you can't also get some help when you turn up at a match."You'll Never Walk Alone is a huge part of going to watch a team play and you can understand people want to be part of it, and I think it's fantastic that it's going to happen for them."Jones and Frimpong surprised two Liverpool fans, Lucy and David Cossins from the Wirral, when they were invited to Anfield to share their experiences as Deaf match-going supporters.The two players had learned the signs for 'you'll never walk alone' within just ten minutes, and hoped supporters would do the same ahead of the West Ham match.FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE! All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook pageCarlsberg's Signs of Unity website includes videos, illustrations and simple steps to help fans learn the signs, along with an explanation of the choice of signs:"In traditional BSL, You (You'll) is usually a pointing gesture, but in this song, it's not about the individual – it's about the collective.

This is why a single index finger moving away from the body was chosen to represent the feeling of isolation."That movement is then resolved for Alone as multiple fingers join the lone finger, showing others coming alongside in support – no longer alone, but together."Emma Case is a freelance photographer and founder of The RED Archive, a community project to preserve and share Liverpool fans' memories of supporting their team.She is the daughter of Liverpool legend Jimmy Case, who won four league titles and three European Cups with the Reds in the 1970s and 80s.Emma has worked with the Deaf community for over 20 years, and spoke to the ECHO about her excitement and hopes for the Signs of Unity campaign:"It's a tall ask to get a whole stadium to be able to do something different to what they normally do, but the response when you look at social media and you see all the videos that have gone out has been really, really positive."And that's the thing - the song is essentially about us all being together and all supporting each other, so this is the literal epitome of it."'Of course we'll do this, we'll put our scarves down for just the four signs and do it.' And what a statement - what a visual statement, as well. If you meet a Deaf person, there's certain things you can do in terms of communicating with them: make sure that you face that person, make sure that you're not covering your mouth, if you need to write something down then do, make sure you're in good light, and just be patient with that person and follow their lead."It's just having an awareness and not being scared to have a conversation, and just being interested.

I'm hoping that, moving forward, Anfield and all of our organisations and cultural institutions in Liverpool are able to make sure that access is the most important thing."For the club's part, Liverpool FC have committed to BSL interpreters being present at every men's and women's home fixture to translate pre-match announcements and You'll Never Walk Alone.Emma hoped a successful signing and singing of You'll Never Walk Alone on Saturday would give hearing supporters a lasting impression that opens their mind to the rich language and culture of the Deaf community:"It benefits not just the Deaf community, it also benefits the hearing community, because the Deaf community is just the best community."Their sense of humour, their culture. It feels a privilege to be welcomed into that community and so I think everyone benefits, the world is a better place."Imagine 60,000 people coming out of that stadium and becoming advocates: another step forward."To find out more about Signs of Unity and learn how to sign 'you'll never walk alone', visit Carlberg's website here and the Liverpool FC website here.To find out more about the British Deaf Association, visit their website here.