Impact report

Transcription

1 Impact report

2 About us The Elizabeth Foundation is a national charity supporting young children with all degrees of hearing loss to learn to listen and speak. Through our services, we enable these children to develop their listening and spoken language skills, as well as build their self-esteem. We also aim to give parents the confidence and knowledge to aid their child s development and make informed decisions on behalf of their child. Above all, we aim to provide a warm, supportive and positive environment for deaf children and their families. This Impact report covers the year from August 2015 to July 2016, encompassing our school year. Contents Message from our Chief Executive Our core services Growing demand How we change lives Sam s story Sarah s story Reaching out Working together Funding Fundraising events Corporates and trusts Future plans

3 Message from our Chief Executive In 2016 The Elizabeth Foundation celebrated its 35th Anniversary. What started as a small local charity is now the largest pre-school provider for deaf children in the UK. Now, more than ever, we are meeting our aim to: Facilitate early diagnosis of babies and pre-school children with hearing loss, and provide comprehensive educational and support services to them and their families. The past few years have seen tremendous growth to the charity. Our weekly baby, toddler and pre-school nursery services have supported just over 70 children from 9 different counties. In addition, we increased our Listen support groups to include children with unaided hearing loss, Down syndrome and/or complex needs and 25 additional families attended these services on a monthly basis. Our new Summer Residential programme supported 8 families from all over the British Isles and our Home Learning Programme continues to support people across this country and abroad. In April 2016, Ofsted rated us as an Outstanding provider of pre-school education. Maintaining our Outstanding Ofsted rating reflects the care, effort and dedication of every single member of our team. Passion and enthusiasm permeates every element of our service. None of this would be possible without our incredible supporters and volunteers who continue to raise the much-needed funds for our services, raise awareness for the work we do and support our work in the nurseries. This means so much to all the families across the country who benefit from the variety of services we provide at The Elizabeth Foundation. Thank you for your support! Julie Hughes Chief Executive 03

4 Our core services The aims of our core services for were to: Provide comprehensive educational and support services for babies, toddlers and pre-school children after diagnosis of hearing loss. Educate parents on how best to help their deaf child develop their awareness of sound and spoken language skills through everyday life experiences. Enable the children to develop their listening and spoken language skills and build their self-esteem. Give parents the confidence and knowledge to make informed decisions on behalf of their child. Baby groups Who we helped and how: During the year, 23 infants and their families attended our weekly baby programme. These sessions focused on support, information and practical ideas to help babies develop listening and early communication skills. As a direct result of attending the sessions, parents reported that the games and activities they observed in the sessions helped them feel more confident about supporting their child s communication development at home. Parent education Who we helped and how: Throughout the year, we provided 110 individual parent education sessions for 25 families whose children attended our toddler or preschool programmes. Evaluation of the service has shown that all parents rate these sessions as very relevant. 04 We have loved our time in the baby nursery. We have enjoyed watching our son s skills grow and develop - his confidence amazes us.

5 Toddler and pre-school groups Who we helped and how: 52 children attended our weekly toddler and pre-school sessions during the year. We taught the children in small groups following a language-enriched curriculum, incorporating the Early Years Foundation Stage. They also received regular one-toone speech and language therapy sessions. The proportions of children accessing our service who have additional physical or sensory needs (30%) or additional language spoken at home (19%) have remained at similar levels for the past 2 years, and are in line with the national average for deaf children. The enthusiasm, positivity, reassurance and knowledge made us feel like we had really found a place for our son which would help him have the very best start in life. Listen support groups Who we helped and how: We ran five separate support groups each month for babies and pre-schoolers with unaided hearing loss; for babies and pre-schoolers with Down syndrome; and for pre-schoolers with complex needs and hearing loss. Throughout the academic year we provided a total of 36 sessions, attended by 29 children and their families on a regular basis. I wish we had access to it earlier, it has really helped my child. 05

6 Growing demand During we have seen a 27% increase in our core services (baby, toddler and pre-school nurseries) and Listen! support groups Sep 2011 Sep 2012 Sep 2013 Sep 2014 Sep 2015 Jan 2016 Apr 2016 Total Numbers of children attending our core services. Babies Toddlers Pre-school Listen groups Bedfordshire Children attended our core services in from across the south of England. County Hampshire Surrey Southampton West Sussex Portsmouth Dorset Wiltshire Bedfordshire Berkshire East Sussex Isle of Wight Total Dorset Wiltshire Hampshire Southampton West Sussex Portsmouth Isle of Wight Surrey East Sussex 06 Thank you for all you have done for (my son) When he first met you he was a little boy who had gone through a very traumatic time Thank you for giving him the time and understanding he needed What you do is truly specialised and has been a great experience for (him) and us as his parents.

7 How we change lives We provide our services to offer young children with hearing loss the best possible start in life. Many of the deaf children attending our educational programme significantly narrow the gap with their hearing peers - and, just as importantly, they have lots of fun! Language skills We would expect children with no hearing difficulties to make steady progress e.g. they would make one month s language progress for every one month of time that elapsed. Having a hearing loss affects this steady progress. However, with our specialist intervention, during well over half (58%) of the children in our toddler and pre-school groups made progress at an equal or accelerated rate compared with their hearing peers. Over one third of the children had age appropriate levels in either their receptive or expressive language by the end of the school year. Clarity of speech Any degree of hearing loss will affect the clarity of a child s speech. With our input, however, over three-quarters (77%) of our toddler and pre-school children made progress during with their speech sound clarity. In other words, by the end of the year they were able to use more sounds and their words were clearer and more intelligible to others. Relationships with peers Hearing loss affects a child s ability to interact with their peers. However, the majority (88%) of the toddler and pre-school children attending our services during made progress with peer relationships. Our school leavers 10 children left our pre-school service in July 2016 to start primary school in the autumn. Nine out of ten of these children went on to attend a mainstream school with appropriate classroom support. 07

8 Sam s story At five weeks, Sam was diagnosed as being profoundly deaf. We were devastated. We thought that he would never be able to speak to us. Nor, more importantly, would he ever be able to hear us tell him we love him. We worried about him making friends. Sam was implanted with cochlear implants just before his first birthday. However, two years later, Sam still wasn t using any discernible words although he was listening well and his understanding was good. We were told about The Elizabeth Foundation by our teacher of the deaf at Sam s implant centre. We immediately signed up for the home learning course - which was fantastic. It gave us lots of ideas and games targeted for Sam s current hearing and listening abilities. We would receive feedback and the next workbook when Sam was ready to progress further. After a routine appointment at the nearby implant centre, we spontaneously decided to drop in to The Elizabeth Foundation. We received an exceptionally warm and enthusiastic greeting from the team and we could immediately feel the support and sense of optimism. We knew straight away that Sam had to attend. We felt so lucky that the 140 mile round trip was doable in a day. In addition to their oral approach to communication that we wanted for Sam, we would have been utterly lost without the team s respectful encouragement and wise counsel. It has indeed been a long journey for Sam, but today Sam is talking. Sam is talking and he doesn t stop! We feel so optimistic about Sam s bright future and we don t feel his deafness will hold him back from achieving anything he wants to in life. The Elizabeth Foundation has been a truly special experience that we - and Sam especially - will never forget! Andrew and Joanna Callaghan 08

9 Sarah now Sarah s story After being born prematurely, I was diagnosed as profoundly deaf at a very early age and was fitted with my first pair of hearing aids when I was about 9 months old. Living in Portsmouth, I was very fortunate to be able to attend The Elizabeth Foundation, where I started when I was one year old. Because of their support and training I was able to attend mainstream school where I had the help of a hearing support unit. On leaving school, I went to college where I studied for a qualification in childcare and then worked in various pre-school nurseries with young children. This included six months in Australia which was a great experience and I would like to return there one day. Two years ago I applied for a position at Queen Alexandra Hospital as an Occupational Therapy Assistant in the orthopaedics department. I help to support and rehabilitate patients using specialist equipment so that they can return home after they have had a fall. I find the work challenging at times but very rewarding and often follow up their progress with a home visit. As part of my ongoing training at the hospital I am due to start on a foundation degree course next year. I will be studying Health and Social Care at Southampton Solent University and am very excited about this. I am very grateful I was able to attend The Elizabeth Foundation as they gave me the support that I needed to become independent and to be able to socialise. My biggest inspiration was my mum, Jane McIntyre. She was always there to support me and encouraged me to speak to communicate. Sarah McIntyre Sarah then 09

10 Reaching out During we continued our strategy of providing information, advice and support to families unable to visit our Family Centre regularly in person. Summer programme Who we helped and how: We held our first Summer Residential Programme at our Family Centre in August Eight pre-schoolers from across the UK and Ireland attended our specialist nursery, with their brothers and sisters in a sibling programme and their parents attending education sessions. The families enjoyed a full week of fun, learning and activity. During the week, each deaf child benefited from individual assessments by a Teacher of the Deaf, an Audiological Scientist, an Educational Psychologist and a Specialist Speech and Language Therapist. Thank you for running such a needed programme. Loved it! Kids loved it!! Would 100% come back! Home learning programme Who we helped and how: Our Home Learning Programme aims to provide parents with information, guidance and individualised feedback, alongside practical games and activities to promote their child s speech, language, listening and communication development. During , we had 18 new families join our print-based Baby and Pre-school Home Learning Programme. In addition, at the start of 2016 we launched our new interactive, web-based Let s Listen and Talk Baby Programme ( This online programme promotes listening, spoken language, communication and literacy. 10 Thank you for being by our side all of these months. We are really feeling so good to see our daughter s development so far and we are committed to going all the way with your support.

11 Working together We aim to work with individuals and organisations to help them provide the best possible services for young children with hearing loss and their families across the UK. Presentations and conferences During we provided speakers at: Cochlear Conference Listening to Learn Family Education Day; Pan-professional Deafness Day in Gloucestershire, Mary Hare Family Fun Day; Deaf Awareness for QA Hospital Paediatric Department. We also provided lectures for the University of Portsmouth Speech and Language Therapy Foundation Degree course. Collaborating with organisations We worked with other organisations supporting deaf children CICS (including regular CICS Family magazine features), NDCS, AVUK, Mary Hare, Advanced Bionics, Cochlear. We are a member of the Communication Trust, a group of not-for-profit organisations working together to support children with speech, language and communication needs. Student support We supported students from various courses within the education sector linked to childcare and deafness by enhancing their knowledge and experience. During we hosted 16 students on work placements, studying subjects including Teaching, Audiology, Occupational Therapy and Childcare. Visitors We offered four visitor days during for students and professionals to find out more about the charity and our services. 30 visitors attended our visitor days, including individuals from Local Authority Support Services, Health Visitors, Specialist Teacher Advisors, Student Nurses and Audiologists. 11

12 Funding Every year The Elizabeth Foundation has to secure all of the income it needs to meet its charitable aims and objectives. We receive no statutory grant funding and so we rely largely on the support of families, friends, grant-making trusts, businesses and the community. Our sources of income during * 34% 22% 21% 19% 03% 01% Contracts, fees and other agreements 168,200 Grants 107,600 Fundraising events 103,600 Donations and gifts 95,900 Legacies 16,900 Investments and interest 6,600 How we spend your money For every 1 donated: 71p goes directly to helping deaf babies and children learn to listen and speak 18p goes on raising funds and awareness. 11p goes on governance costs and running the charity *These summary figures are based on the audited figures in our Annual Report and Accounts

13 Fundraising events During , donations and fundraising events provided an essential portion of the money the charity needed to provide services for children with hearing loss and their families. The Elizabeth Foundation organised a wide range of events during the year - such as swims, abseils, Summer Fetes and Christmas Bazaars. We also secured charity places in many popular fundraising events, such as the Great North Run, the London10K and the Great South Run. During the year we were also benefited from the fundraising efforts of parents and Charity Skydive supporters who organised their own charity days and activities, or took part in challenge events such as runs, cycles and treks. Sponsored Run The Elizabeth Foundation have endlessly supported us and Riley with his hearing loss. We are so grateful for their help and commitment to making sure deaf children reach their potential. Riley has attended Baby Sessions right through to Pre-school, so I wanted to help give something back by fundraising for The Elizabeth Foundation. Even the smallest amount of money can make such a huge difference to deaf children and their families. Nick Bryson, Three Peaks in a Week and Cycle Trek Nick and Friends To supplement income from events, we were grateful to receive donations of all sizes from individuals, church or community organisations, and we also continued to offer our popular 100 and 200 Clubs. We were also moved by kind individuals who left the charity a gift in their will and relatives who requested for donations instead of wreaths or floral tributes for loved ones.

14 Corporates and trusts During , we received crucial income from our increasing number of relationships with companies and grant-making trusts and foundations. Corporate support We received support in from corporate partners whose staff and/or customers voted for The Elizabeth Foundation to be their charity - such as Sainsbury s Local Charity of the Year and Waitrose Community Matters scheme. We also received generous support from Basepoint Waterlooville. Grant-making trusts We are extremely grateful to the many grant funders who support our work. Without them The Elizabeth Foundation would not be the success that it is today. Your report has captured so clearly the individualised support that you provide to each child with hearing impairments and the progress they have made according to their hearing challenges faced The Elizabeth Foundation provides a warm, welcoming and supportive environment that is critical to assisting with progress of each child and the consistent and frequency of sessions is vital to aide progress in key communication and social skills. Pam Bacon, Regional Officer, South & West Team, BBC Children in Need We are about to embark on the 2nd year that the colleagues and customers at Farlington Sainsbury s have chosen The Elizabeth Foundation as our sponsored charity. This shows that to it s not just our colleagues but also our customers who are inspired by the work the Foundation does. It is heart-warming to see the difference the team at The Elizabeth Foundation make to the deaf children and their families at this wonderful charity. In our funders included: BBC Children in Need; The Saddlers Company Charitable Fund; The Worshipful Company of Chartered Accountants; John Hornimans Childrens Trust; The St James Place Foundation; QBE; The Goldsmiths Company Charity; Lifeline 4 Kids. Gavin Adams, Deputy Store Manager, Sainsbury s Farlington. 14

15 Future plans Over the next year, we plan to focus on: Maintaining and building our outstanding baby, toddler and pre-school nursery programmes that support deaf children and their families. Reaching more families outside the south of England through our Summer Residential Programme and Home Learning Programme. Launching our Let s Listen and Talk Toddler Programme, an interactive online home learning programme for families of toddlers who cannot attend our Family Centre. Building on existing relationships with other charities and organisation by working in partnership to support families with deaf children. Improving awareness of our services through social media and marketing. Diversifying our portfolio of fundraising activities, corporate supporters and grant funders. Maximising use of facilities at our Family Centre to create opportunity and sustainability. Continuing to work alongside Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust to provide high quality wraparound services for young children with hearing loss and their families from the point of diagnosis and throughout their pre-school years. Facilitating the continued growth and development of the charity whilst maintaining our core values of keeping children and families at the heart of everything we do. 15

16 Thank you! To donate or support our work please visit: Like us on Follow us on The Elizabeth Foundation, Southwick Hill Road, Cosham, Hampshire PO6 3LL Tel: Fax: Website: The Elizabeth Foundation - helping deaf children learn to listen and speak. Registered Charity No A charitable company limited by guarantee, No , registered in England. Registered office as above. Design and layout service kindly donated by Jefferson Robinson ( Jefferson is a former pupil of The Elizabeth Foundation.