LumoTV is delighted to announce the appointment of Abigail Gorman as its new Co-Chair, alongside Chris Higgs, with Reg Cobb appointed Vice-Chair, strengthening the organisation’s leadership as it enters an important new chapter.
Abigail Gorman is a prominent deaf activist and campaigner who has played an influential role in advocating for BSL and the deaf community. She also serves on the Government’s BSL Advisory Board, advising on matters affecting deaf and Deafblind people and the implementation of the BSL Act, and joined LumoTV’s Board of Trustees in 2024.
Abigail will serve alongside Chris Higgs, a long-standing LumoTV Trustee who has provided important continuity and leadership as Interim Chair during a significant period of change and growth for the organisation.
Reg Cobb, Chief Impact Officer of Action Deafness, formerly CEO of deafPLUS and a long-standing leader within the deaf community, becomes LumoTV’s new Vice-Chair. Reg has been a LumoTV Trustee since 2022 and brings extensive experience of leadership, governance, advocacy and delivering services that empower deaf people.
The appointments come at a pivotal moment for LumoTV and the wider broadcasting industry. Independent research commissioned by LumoTV and conducted by Heriot-Watt University found that 91% of BSL users prefer sign-presented television – the finding at the heart of LumoTV’s 91% Mandate.
LumoTV believes there is an important place for both sign-presented and sign-interpreted programming, but they serve different purposes and should not be treated as interchangeable. As broadcasters and streaming platforms navigate a rapidly changing regulatory and accessibility landscape, the 91% Mandate underlines the importance of protecting and investing in sign-presented content, ensuring BSL audiences continue to have access to programmes created in their language, while creating more opportunities for deaf talent, perspectives and stories to flourish on screen.
Camilla Arnold, Chief Executive of LumoTV, said:
“I’m absolutely delighted that Abigail will be joining Chris as Co-Chair and that Reg will become our Vice-Chair. This feels like a really important moment for LumoTV. The broadcasting landscape is changing rapidly, but we now have something incredibly powerful behind us: a clear mandate from our audience. 91% of BSL users have told us they prefer sign-presented content, and our job is to make sure that voice is heard – not just at LumoTV, but across the wider industry. Abigail, Chris and Reg each bring something different to our leadership, but most importantly they share our ambition for what LumoTV can become.
I also want to recognise our brilliant Board as a whole. We’re incredibly fortunate to have Trustees who care deeply about LumoTV, challenge and support us, and bring such a breadth of experience and expertise to the organisation.
The 91% Mandate gives us a responsibility as well as an opportunity. We want more deaf-led programmes, more opportunities for deaf talent and stronger partnerships with broadcasters and platforms and ultimately for BSL content to be recognised not simply as accessibility provision, but as brilliant television that audiences, deaf and hearing, everywhere want to watch. I’m hugely excited about what we can achieve in this next chapter.”
The appointments build on LumoTV’s commitment to remaining deaf-led as it grows its ambition, reach and influence within the UK and international television industry.