ALL the signs were there for a new mum when she decided to set up her business.

Now Thérèse Markham, from Callands, has plenty of reasons to celebrate as Warrington’s TinyTalk Baby Signing classes turn 13 this month.

Babies and toddlers in the area have had a helping hand in communicating with their parents thanks to classes run by Thérèse.

The first TinyTalk class in Warrington was held on April 12, 2005.

The mum-of-two said: “I first read about baby signing when my now 14-year-old daughter Hannah was six months old.

“I thought it sounded wonderful, too good to be true in fact, that she would be able to tell me what she wanted before she could speak.

“She blew me away when she signed ‘milk’ for the first time, just 10 days after I’d first shown her the sign.

“By 15 months Hannah had a signing vocabulary of more than 50 signs.

“She could tell me when she was thirsty or hungry or when she was tired.

“She could even say ‘please’ when she wanted something.

“Baby signing helped us avoid the frustration babies feel when they try to communicate and we adults are unable to understand them.”

After being made redundant when Hannah was nine months old, Thérèse read about TinyTalk in the national press and saw on their website they were looking for more teachers.

The 47-year-old added: “Despite having a background in travel and tourism I ticked all the boxes, so to speak.

“Within four months I was teaching my first class in St Thomas’ Church Hall in Stockton Heath. Thirteen years later I am now about to launch my 11th weekly class in Newton le Willows as well as 10 others across Warrington and Lymm. Claire Hankinson joined me in 2014, running classes alongside me in the area, which is wonderful as it means we can now offer classes Monday to Friday and across a wider area.”

TinyTalk classes are an hour long, starting with BSL-based signing and singing to well-known nursery rhymes and songs.