2024-07-31-accounts

The Auditory Verbal Centre

REPORT & ACCOUNTS FOR YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024

THE AUDITORY VERBAL CENTRE

Company Number 04569764

(England and Wales) Charity Number 1095133

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LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS	3
TRUSTEES’ REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTOR’S REPORT AND STRATEGIC REPORT)	4
ANNUAL REVIEW 23/24	5
TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES	21
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES	26
BALANCE SHEET AT 31 JULY 2024	27
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS	28
NOTES FORMING PART OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS	29
OUR SUPPORTERS	40

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LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Trustees	Jane Barry (Chair)
	Shiona Adamson (appointed 01 August 2023)
	Katherine Bartrop
	Christopher Campbell (appointed 09 July 2024)
	Paul Clifford (Treasurer)
	Eleanor Conroy (resigned 03 October 2023)
	Amelia Ehren
	Frances Owen (resigned 03 October 2023)
	Jonathan Pepper (appointed 09 July 2024)
	Vinay Purwaha (resigned 09 July 2024)
	Gillian Smith
	Aileen Thompson (appointed 09 July 2024)
Secretary	N/A
Chief Executive	Anita Grover
Company Number	4569764 (England and Wales)
Charity Number	1095133
Registered Office	Unit 4, Bignell Park Barns
	Chesterton
	Oxfordshire
	OX26 1TD
Business Address	Unit 4, Bignell Park Barns
	Chesterton
	Oxfordshire
	OX26 1TD
Bankers	Lloyds Bank
	1 High Street
	Oxford
	OX1 4AA
Auditor	Wenn Townsend
	St Giles'
	Oxford
	OX1 3LE

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TRUSTEES’ REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTOR’S REPORT AND STRATEGIC REPORT)

1. The trustees present their report and the audited financial statements of the charity for the year end 31 July 2024. The trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” (FRS 102) in preparing the annual report and financial statements of the charity.

2. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 of the accounts and comply with the charity’s governing document, the Charities Act 2011 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland published in October 2019.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE & MANAGEMENT

1. The organisation is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity. It is registered as The Auditory Verbal Centre and uses the working name, Auditory Verbal UK (AVUK). The members of the company are the same as its directors, who are its trustees for the purposes of charity law and served throughout the year and up to the date of approval of this report, unless otherwise stated. The company is established under a memorandum of association, which sets out the objects and powers of the charitable company and is governed under its articles of association.

2. The Board is responsible for oversight of the management of all the affairs of the charity. It seeks to ensure that all activities are within UK law and come within the agreed charitable objectives. The Board’s work includes setting strategic direction, agreeing the financial plan and ensuring that activities are conducted within agreed governance frameworks.

3. The charity is governed by its board of trustees who meet on average once every three months. These meetings are comprised of the trustees, with the CEO and Director of Finance and Operations in attendance. These meetings make decisions about the policies and strategic direction of the charity. The Board delegates all other operational and management matters to the Chief Executive. All decisions are recorded in the minutes of the meeting. Decisions on employment and remuneration are discussed by the Chair, Treasurer and CEO with senior appointments involving the wider Board. The Board sub-committees (Finance and Risk sub-committee and the People and Development subcommittee) continue to meet once a quarter and provide value. Other members of the AVUK team are invited to attend Board meetings or sub-committees to present new proposals, plans, and research and discuss progress.

4. The trustees seek to act independently and impartially with their sole interest being the furtherance of the charity’s objectives. In addition, all trustees have declared that there is nothing that, to their knowledge, could conflict with trustee independence before they were appointed as a trustee. Any potential conflict of interest must be declared in advance of any agenda item, and, in such an event, an individual trustee may be excluded from the decision-making process.

5. The trustees have considered the major risks to which the charity is exposed. These have been reviewed and a range of measures and systems are in place to manage them. The strategic risk register is reviewed in detail by the Finance and Risk sub-committee who offer ongoing reporting to the full Board. Major issues are discussed as they arise, to ensure swift remedial action where needed. Financial risk is mitigated by a multi-donor strategy, minimising reliance on one income stream. A monthly system of current and forecasted financial reporting is in place; trustees review the data from this at the Finance and Risk sub-committee and report into full trustee meetings. The Chair, CEO, Director of Finance and Operations, and Treasurer ensure a regular dialogue in between meetings. Policies on reserves and fundraising/administrative expenditure are in operation (see paragraphs 93101).

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1. The trustees consider the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and believe that the activities of AVUK are in line with that guidance.

Safeguarding at AVUK

1. Safeguarding children at AVUK takes several forms. As an organisation, AVUK recognises our role in safeguarding a vulnerable group and ensuring children are given the opportunity to thrive. We have written policies for families and staff, based on mandatory government procedures and practice guidance. An audit of both our policy and practice is undertaken each year. Day-to-day responsibility for ensuring policies and procedures are adhered to is shared between the CEO and the Family Support team, with designated safeguarding support in each centre. The Board has a dedicated safeguarding lead and undertakes all required child safeguarding measures and criminal record checks.

2. We have five Designated Safeguarding Leads who are supported by a lead at Board level and within the senior management team. This ensures Safeguarding Leads cover both centres and the whole working week. All staff are kept aware of their recording and reporting responsibilities through formal supervision and informal discussions. All staff and Trustees undergo bi-annual Safeguarding training, which is being undertaken again in 2025. The training is repeated for new joiners as part of their induction. Any immediate safeguarding concerns are discussed with families at the earliest opportunity, and we use our parent consultations to address any areas of potential concern.

3. As part of liaison with local services, staff have contributed to ’Team around the Child’ meetings and worked with children and families’ teams as required. We follow fair and safe recruitment procedures for all staff. Enhanced DBS checks are carried out for all staff and volunteers and regulated yearly through the DBS update service.

ANNUAL REVIEW 23/24

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Our vision

1. We want all deaf babies and children to have the same opportunities in life as their hearing peers. Early and effective support to develop language and communication is vital for all deaf children, whether families wish to use spoken language, sign language or both. We want the families of deaf children, who want their child to learn to listen and talk, to have the opportunity to access an Auditory Verbal therapy programme close to where they live and through publicly funded services.

Our mission

1. We want to raise expectations and outcomes for deaf children. We work to increase awareness, understanding and access to Auditory Verbal therapy by providing services direct to families and sharing our expertise with health and education professionals through our internationally accredited training programme so that many more families, who want their child to learn to listen and talk, can access an Auditory Verbal therapy programme via publicly funded services, close to where they live.

Public benefit statement

1. The trustees have referred to the guidance in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing AVUK’s aims and objectives and in planning our future activities. In particular, the trustees have considered how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives they have set.

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STRATEGIC REPORT

1. In November 2022 we published our ten-year strategy, Creating a Sound Future for Deaf Children that outlines our plan to transform the landscape of Auditory Verbal therapy provision in the UK. We want to ensure the families of all deaf children under the age of 5 in the UK, who want their child to learn to listen and talk, have the opportunity to access an Auditory Verbal therapy programme close to where they live and through publicly funded services.

2. To achieve this, we need to increase the number of certified therapists in the UK; we need to support families; and we need to build sustainable services for the future that are inclusive and enable equality of opportunity.

3. Our strategy demonstrates a model for how our vision can be achieved in a ten-year period. Every practitioner that we train in Auditory Verbal practice and every family that we support with our highquality Auditory Verbal therapy family programme, is a step closer towards our vision. We are very proud of the progress we are making towards our vision – with excellent feedback from the families that we support through our programme; we have increased the number of professionals training in the approach and qualifying as Auditory Verbal therapists in 2023/2024, as well as increasing our reach and influence in the UK and around the world .

4. To achieve the necessary 300 qualified therapists across the whole of the UK to support the c7,200 deaf children under the age of 5, whilst supporting up to 120 families directly with full subsidies, requires us to raise over £2million per year across a 10-year period. We are so grateful to the generosity of charitable trusts and foundations, companies and individuals who have donated to our work in the year 2023/24 and those who have also pledged multi-year grants to support out work as we work towards achieving these income levels. We have increased our income levels to over £1.5million in 2023/24 and will be aiming to increase this further as we work towards our ambition set out in our strategy

5. We are incredibly grateful to all the staff and volunteers for their continued professionalism and commitment to the vision and values of AVUK and to all those who fund and support the charity in so many ways.

OUR WORK TO SUPPORT FAMILIES OF DEAF CHILDREN

1. We have delivered a high-quality Auditory Verbal therapy programme and supported 90 families this year on our regular caseload and a further 72 families through initial enquiries, appointments, and ad hoc sessions. As part of our strategic vision, we continue to work towards our long-term goal of 120 families on our regular caseload at any one time.

2. The cost-of-living crisis has negatively impacted on many families around the UK, and we are pleased to say that we have successfully managed to ensure that most families were able to continue undertaking their Auditory Verbal therapy programme with the support of our generous funders through our bursary scheme and hardship fund. The number of families on our regular caseload receiving means-tested bursaries has increased by nearly 10% to 84%. On behalf of these children and their families, we would like to thank all our funders for allowing them to continue to access their Auditory Verbal therapy programme even through these challenging economic times.

3. Being accessible to all families is at the forefront of our vision, and so we offer families the option of receiving their Auditory Verbal therapy sessions either in-person at one of our centres (in London, Leeds or Oxfordshire), virtually through telepractice or via a hybrid of both options. This reduces the likelihood of barriers such as location, work hours and family commitments preventing families attending any sessions. We are proud to say that we are able to consistently deliver effective therapy sessions to families whichever model they choose.

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1. As part of our efforts to ensure continuous improvement and the best quality of support and services for families, we seek feedback through our annual family survey. At the start of 2024, we sent the survey to 84 families and received a response from 31, giving a response rate of 37%. This represents a 10% growth in responses in comparison to last year (n=28) and is an encouraging level of engagement, as typically the average response rate to an external survey is 10-15%. (https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/blog/what-is-a-good-survey-response-rate; accessed 10 Sept 2024).

2. Responses to the annual family survey have continued to remain positive. 97% of parents responded to say that their sessions were either effective or highly effective. With regards to the additional family services available, 83% of parents/carers responded that they were either satisfied or very satisfied with their Family Support meetings and 89% satisfied or very satisfied with the financial support available. Given that Auditory Verbal therapy is a parent coaching approach, we are pleased to report that the survey showed that 100% of parents feel encouraged to participate and contribute to their child’s sessions.

3. We explored parents’ views of their overall experiences with AVUK. A selection of responses are highlighted below:

“It is everything! This is the difference between my child speaking and not speaking. It has given us opportunities, connections and knowledge we would not have had and obviously the support that I have spoken about I will never forget.”

“Before AVUK we were quite lost and felt that our child would never reach his potential and would struggle to make his way in the world. After AVUK, we realised that he can make it and that he can live an independent, successful life - he just needs more input and the right support.”

“A huge difference, she is a very intelligent little girl but the support from AVUK has helped us, as a family, support her in her learning and helped her new school understand how to support her too. Her twin sister has also benefitted from the sessions and has expressed how sad she is that they have now finished. “

“The outcome and guidance provided by AVUK was truly invaluable. Our child is now a confident speaker and listener and we as parents feel so much more enabled in our approach.”

“Learning to listen and talk will give him the same opportunities as his peers. His deafness will not limit his success.”

1. As part of our continued endeavour to strive for excellence, the survey also asked where we could improve. Most parents felt they were able to raise any issues they might have with AVUK. The survey results highlighted a few areas for improvement, particularly relating to the availability of sessions in more local areas and the desire for more family days and events. There is an understanding amongst parents/carers that there are some restrictions on the breadth of services that we can currently provide due to funding and we are grateful to the organisations who are supporting the provision of additional support for families. The desire for families to be able to access services locally is at the heart of our 10 year-strategy which focuses on training of practitioners across the UK. During this year we have also expanded our in-person services for families in Leeds, Yorkshire and during 2024/25 will be delivering in-person services in Scotland.

2. Our dedicated Family Support Manager joined AVUK in April 2021 and in April 2024 a Family Support Officer joined our team further increasing the support we can offer to families on our programme. We have delivered a peer-to-peer system; helped them navigate the Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) process; supported their access to other relevant services and access to financial assistance.

3. This year we have also delivered the Nurturing Programme parenting course, thanks to the funding from the National Deaf Children’s Society. The 10-week ‘Nurturing Programme’ aims to improve the emotional health of both adults and children and strengthens family relationships. It is a cognitive-

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relational programme, providing parents with new skills to develop an understanding of behaviour in the context of relationships. We have developed this programme specifically for parents of deaf children in conjunction with the Centre for Emotional Health (formerly Family Links). We have now delivered a total of four cohorts on this programme with 35+ families taking part. Families that have accessed the programme have overwhelmingly found it to be positive and useful, with several parents noting that these additional services have served as a highlight of their experience with us, stating:

“This course has taught me so much and given me more confidence to be a better parent. I feel happier being more able to deal with stressors of family life and I feel certain that doing this course has improved the lives of my family and I. The facilitators are excellent, empathetic, and encouraging.”

“One of the most important things for me has been knowing that I now have other Dads I can be in touch with when we hit those big milestones like starting pre-school and school. It’s so good to know that someone else can be there to offer me advice having been through it themselves”

“I thought talking about emotional wellbeing was going to be a bit ‘airy fairy’ but the course has helped me understand the importance of recognising both my own emotions and those of my daughter, I’m so pleased I’m equipped now to support her emotional development.”

1. We continue to be enormously grateful to Mark and Katya Sabah, for the work they have done to host parents’ evenings for other parents with children on the AVUK family programme. In 2024 we extended our popular parents’ evenings into a family day. We collaborated with the early years company ‘Little City’ to provide a day of fun and opportunity for families on our programme to connect. These events offer current and recently graduated families who live in and around London an opportunity to get together in an informal setting to share their stories and challenges and offer advice and support to each other. It also represents an opportunity for children to meet their deaf peers. They have been warmly received and we hope to run more next year.

2. We continue to run popular monthly ‘Meet an Auditory Verbal Therapist’ events online, giving families the opportunity to meet a specialist therapist and a member of the family support team to learn about AV therapy and the programme at AVUK.

OUR WORK TO TRANSFORM SERVICE PROVISION IN THE UK

Increasing the numbers of professionals training in Auditory Verbal practice

1. Since its launch in 2012/13, our training programme in Auditory Verbal practice has supported over 275 UK and International Speech & Language Therapists, Teachers of the Deaf and Audiologists on our six-month Foundation course and 60 on our 2½ year advanced course. Over the past 12 months over 120 professionals have been actively supported through training courses and ongoing 1-2-1 mentoring.

2. We are delighted to celebrate the LSLS certification of 9 professionals (3 UK-based) this year who have successfully completed their Foundation and Advanced courses; invested in the 900 practicum hours and passed the international examination required to achieve their Listening Spoken Language Specialist (LSLS) Certified Auditory Verbal Therapist qualification. There are now 31 LSLS Cert AVTs in the UK. 11 work at AVUK, 13 work in the public sector and 7 work independently.

3. In 2023/24 we delivered training to a total of 14 Foundation cohorts, 7 of which started in the year. These cohorts included 32 professionals from across the UK, 26 of whom were able to undertake the course, thanks to the generosity of our donors, with full training bursaries to cover training fees. As a result of targeted outreach and engagement work and the promotion of our training on digital and social media platforms, we have been pleased to see the number of professionals enquiring about our Foundation and Advanced courses more than double compared to the previous 12 months. From September – November 2024 we will be launching 6 new Foundation courses that include groups of

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professionals in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Yorkshire.

1. We have received very positive feedback from cohorts attending the Foundation course in the year.

“The AVT Foundation course has really helped my practice and it has had a positive impact on the work I do alongside parents and practitioners, as well as the children themselves. Not only that, but I have been able to pass on information, suggestions and advice to colleagues who are working with children 0-3 years. Thank you for the opportunity to add to my knowledge base and practical skills. It has given me a lot of confidence when working with young deaf children and their families.”

“I have learnt so much which has been so applicable to my work and I am constantly trying to put into practice what I have learnt. My confidence has grown so much now that I have more knowledge and understanding and lots of new strategies that I can use to assess and provide therapy for children. A big area has also been how I have changed my practice in working with parents, my skills in coaching and teaching them have really changed for the better.”

“It has given me much more insight in how speech and language develops in babies/young children and shown me lots of approaches/strategies in how to support the children and families. It is a really good course and I am so glad that I have done it.”

“The AVT course has increased my understanding; this has now equipped me better to support children with HI i.e., better, realistic targeted planning etc. I am able to explain and give reasons for many of the strategies used to encourage audition first. It’s given me the confidence to support parents or school staff to increase their understanding of child’s hearing loss and the technology in a practical way. The course allows us to focus not just on the child but better equip parents or support staff in schools.”

1. We are proud that 27 professionals, 7 from across the UK, have continued to make progress on their Advanced training in 2023/24. Two of the cohorts completed the ‘course’ element of their advanced training in-year. We have received very positive feedback from cohorts attending the Advanced course.

“For colleagues wishing to specialise in deafness I feel this needs to be an essential qualification.”

“ The Advanced Course in AVT offered by AVUK in England gave me the opportunity to gain the comprehensive additional specialist knowledge required for the qualification. I also had the support of my mentors, who guided me in my practical training. I also received endless inspiration and help from the entire AVUK team, as well as the other course participants.”

1. In addition, a number of professionals are expected to successfully certify next year (2024/25) and we are delighted to support them through our Continued Mentorship Programme. Launched at the start of 2022, this programme continues to grow in numbers and develop as a platform for peer-topeer support and development led by the members. As new therapists further develop their confidence and practice, they will be in a position to mentor others through the training process with support from AVUK.

2. As part of our plan to accelerate training reach in the UK we have been developing the details of our “Train the Trainer” programme which will be launched in 2025. This programme will ensure that we continue to deliver high-quality, practical, and accessible training to professionals in the future and support those professionals to mentor others and train their workforces. This is at the heart of our approach to build a sustainable workforce within the public sector.

3. This year we organised two in-service training events for practitioners in Bradford and Scotland. Both events were organised in collaboration with local services with the Yorkshire Auditory Implant Service and the Scottish Sensory Centre respectively with excellent feedback from most.

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Engaging for Change

1. Our Hear Us Now Campaign has gained further momentum amongst decision makers across the UK, including MPs, Members of the Scottish Parliament, Members of the Senedd, Members of the Legislative Assembly of Northern Ireland and the public and private sectors, supporting our aim to enable all families who want their deaf children to learn to listen and talk to be able to access Auditory Verbal therapy via publicly funded services close to where they live.

2. Our engagement has focused on the importance of the critical early years of children’s lives, the need for early and effective support whether families wish to use spoken language, sign language or both; and investment in the training of the specialist workforce. We want to thank the children and parents/caregivers we have worked with who have contributed to supporting our campaign in a number of ways and to the organisations across the sector that we have worked with to challenge expectations for what deaf children can achieve and the importance of access to early support from specialist practitioners to develop language and communication.

England

1. We have been pleased to secure the support of dozens of cross-party MPs through events, culminating in a Westminster Hall Debate on increasing access to Auditory Verbal therapy, in December 2023. We have had positive discussions with Ministers and officials at Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), as well as Department for Education and Department of Work and Pensions about increasing access to Auditory Verbal therapy by training a small proportion of the existing workforce of speech and language therapist, teachers of the deaf and audiologists. We have also had positive engagement with NHS England and National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), alongside several Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) on increasing the numbers of professionals within local services training in the Auditory Verbal approach.

2. With the new Government and Parliament following the UK General Election in July 2024, we are continuing our engagement with MPs and Ministers and look forward to working closely with decision makers to secure mandation and public funding for Auditory Verbal therapy as an option for families of babies and young deaf children.

3. We have collaborated with representatives from organisations supporting deaf children across the sector – including joining an Expert Reference Group and leading work with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, British Association of Teachers of the Deaf and the National Deaf Children’s Society to review competences and access to training to support the workforce and contributing to Government led consultations.

Scotland

1. We are a registered charity in Scotland and proud to be supporting families across Scotland through telepractice and working to increase awareness, understanding and access to training in Auditory Verbal therapy. Following the publication of the Independent National Audiology Review, we continue to support calls for the recommendations of this report to be implemented fully and swiftly and have welcomed meetings with the Scottish Government delivery team to support this.

2. We were delighted to present to the Hearing Impairment Network for Children & Young People (HINCYP), part of NHS Scotland, and present at NHS Scotland’s conference on embracing telepractice. For World Hearing Day in March 2024, two young deaf people who had Auditory Verbal therapy as children joined us in the Scottish Parliament to meet with MSPs to share their stories and call on the Government to invest in early support and training for practitioners. We are proud to be members of the Cross-Party Group on Deafness, and for the support of MSPs from across the political spectrum to improve outcomes and opportunities for deaf children.

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Wales

1. In Wales we hosted an event in the Senedd inviting Members of the Senedd (MSs) to meet deaf children, young people and their families, to learn about the benefits of Auditory Verbal therapy in July 2024. We have also been supported by a number of MSs who have championed our cause, including supporting a Ministerial meeting in November 2023 and are proud to be members of the Cross-Party Group on Deaf Issues.

Northern Ireland

1. In Northern Ireland we are pleased to have established strong working relationships with the 5 Health and Social Care Trusts to provide training to 10 Speech and Language Therapists, as well as working closely with the Education Authority to begin training Teachers of the Deaf in the Auditory Verbal approach. We have also presented on latest best practice to the British Academy of Audiologists in Northern Ireland.

2. In February 2024 the Northern Ireland Assembly was recalled after a 2-year hiatus. We are pleased to be able to continue our engagement with MLAs and Ministers and look forward to working closely with decision makers to secure mandation and public funding for Auditory Verbal therapy.

Children’s Commissioners for England and Northern Ireland

1. We were pleased to welcome the Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, to our London Centre in February 2024. Rachel met deaf children and their families who have benefited from Auditory Verbal therapy and has continued to support our work, including inviting deaf teenager, Hope Dennis, to Parliament, and sharing videos to challenge perception of what deaf children can achieve.

2. In July 2024 we met with the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People, Chris Quinn, to introduce him to the benefits of Auditory Verbal therapy. We look forward to continuing engagement with the office and organising further opportunities to increase understanding of Auditory Verbal therapy and garner support for our ‘Hear Us Now’ campaign.

Demonstrating What Works: Our Research and Sharing Best Practice

1. In November 2023, we published our latest Position Paper, which collated the latest evidence on how early interventions, hearing technology and social policy have advanced, adding to the growing evidence base for the effectiveness of the Auditory Verbal approach.

2. In April 2024, we published research conducted by YouGov that detailed the knowledge gap of the UK public regarding the potential for deaf children to learn to speak as well as their hearing peers. More than a quarter (28%) of UK adults believe it is not possible for a child born profoundly deaf today to learn to speak as well as a child without hearing loss, and 85% of UK adults believe Auditory Verbal therapy should be available to all deaf children via publicly funded services (i.e., the NHS), while only 2% think it should be paid for privately.

Outside of our publishing, we have also shared our research and expertise in supporting families of deaf children by presenting at the following events:

• October 2023 Rehabilitation Conference on Hearing Impairment (Birmingham)

• March 2024 University College London (UCL) Audiology Masters lecture

• March/April 2024 ONafhankelijk Informatiecentrum over Cochleaire Implantatie (ONICI) (Belgium) – webinars

• April 2024 British Association of Teachers of the Deaf (BATOD)/ European Federation of Associations of Teachers of the Deaf (FEAPDA)/ National Council for Special Education (NCSE) Congress (Ireland)

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• May 2024 British Academy of Audiology (Northern Ireland)

• May 2024 British Cochlear Implant Group (BCIG) Conference

• May 2024 Cochlear Implant International Community of Action (CIICA) conference (Brussels)

• May 2024 Family Centred Early Intervention (FCEI) Conference (Austria)

• May 2024 Med-El Family Meet up event (Stirling, Scotland)

• June 2024 NHS Scotland Event (Glasgow)

• June 2024 Alexander Graham Bell Global Symposium

• These events have allowed us to increase awareness of Auditory Verbal practice amongst a broader pool of professionals. In addition, to ensure continuous excellence in our own understanding on the latest developments regarding hearing loss and early language development, our clinical team has also attended a number of conferences and study days and hosted a Continuing Education Network for those interested in Auditory Verbal practice.

• We continue to collaborate with the international First Voice Network on their annual Sound Outcomes report.

Increasing our profile and reach

1. An essential component to making our strategic aim, of ensuring that every family who wants their child to learn to listen and talk can access an Auditory Verbal programme through the NHS and publicly funded services in their local area, a reality is to ensure that awareness of our Auditory Verbal therapy continues to grow. We set ourselves ambitious targets for our communications work which we are pleased to say we have met over the past year.

Increasing coverage in national and local media

1. This year we saw an increase of 80% in national news pieces, including three prime time television pieces in Scotland on STV and BBC Scotland and Wales on BBC and ITV and two national radio pieces on Times Radio. Sade and Topaz Oram, two of our graduates, who had Auditory Verbal therapy when they were children shared their story with BBC Southwest (TV, radio and online).

Loud Shirt Day

1. We ran our Loud Shirt Day campaign in October 2023. As one of our longest standing engagement and fundraising events, we managed to build upon our successful history:

2. AVUK’s website saw an increased traffic of 9.6% in the two weeks surrounding Loud Shirt Day (16[th] – 30[th] October) compared to the previous two weeks (1[st] October- 15[th] October). This represents a 0.6% improvement on the previous year.

3. We secured five media pieces, including a piece on BBC Look East.

4. We hosted an awareness raising event in Parliament on the 18[th] October, which was attended by more than 20 MPs, including Ministers and Shadow Ministers. The day was supported by celebrities such as Joanna Lumley, families who have attended AVUK and organisations such as staff at Markerstudy and Ensors, who all wore their loud shirts with pride to raise awareness and funds for deaf children.

Digital Channels

1. We continue to grow our digital channels, with this year seeing a 12.5% increase in newsletter subscribers; more than 35% increase in website visits; engagement across all social channels was up by 24.2%; engagement rate increased across all social channels to 5.7% (average is between 1 and 3.5%); and followers increase across all social media channels up by 11.3%.

2. This increase can be partially attributed to our drive to produce and share high quality content, including videos of children, families and professionals, as well as launching new digital content including a Deaf Awareness Week Quiz and clinical tips for families.

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Celebrity support

1. Influencer and proud cochlear implant wearer, Tasha Gouri, met families and children who have benefitted from AV therapy at an event in February. Tasha shared her story and journey of being born deaf and being in the public eye as a deaf role model. We look forward to continuing a close relationship with Tasha and thank her for her warm support for our work.

Awards

1. Our Auditory Verbal therapy programme won the Children and Young People Now Early Years Award in 2023, recognising outstanding practice and innovation in the children's services sector. The awards also saw 10-year-old Orson Grimer receive Highly Commended for the Children’s Achievement Award. Together with his family, Orson, who was born deaf and learnt to listen and talk with Auditory Verbal therapy, has championed our ‘Hear Us Now’ campaign. He delivered a letter to the Prime Minister at Number 10 Downing Street and met cross-party MPs at the House of Commons to explain the impact of AV therapy and how he enjoys the same opportunities in life as hearing children of his age.

2. We were delighted to see our CEO, Anita Grover also shortlisted for the 2023 Charity Comms Inspiring Communicator Awards in the category of Strategic Leader of the Year.

Claire Campbell Outstanding Achievement Awards

1. This year we launched the Outstanding Achievement Awards, in memory of Claire Campbell, a committed ambassador of Auditory Verbal UK, and Chair of Trustees from 2013 to 2020. These awards recognise deaf children, young people and the adults that support them, who, like Claire, have gone above and beyond to demonstrate that deaf children can achieve their potential. The winners of the inaugural awards were announced as deaf teenager, Lauren Press, and St George’s Hospital Auditory Implant Service Team, in November 2023.

2. It was fantastic to see the range of nominations for both the young person and adult categories, with a strong shortlist. Chris Campbell said: “As a family we couldn’t think of a better way of honouring Claire and it has been wonderful to read all the entries that have come in. They have all demonstrated truly outstanding achievements both proving what deaf children and young people can achieve as well as adults who are going above and beyond to support. It is clear that Claire’s passion and legacy, to ensure all deaf children can achieve their potential, lives on in so many wonderful individuals and teams.”

EMBEDDING CHANGES & BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

1. As an organisation we strive for excellence in all we do. This year, we have sought to empower our staff by investing in our people, processes, and technology. Our aim is to be a fair, equitable, and inclusive organisation that ensures our people can be the best they can be. This year we have continued to be a collaborative organisation, forming part of a strong national and international community that shares best practice, looks outwards and works collaboratively to achieve excellent outcomes for deaf children. We have been working on our infrastructure to enable our people to be effective and efficient. Our fundraising approach has been strategically focused and concentrated on securing the long-term sustainable funding needed to make our goals a reality whilst meeting our annual expenditure requirements.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

1. This year we have continued to review and challenge our processes and culture to become a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive organisation, both for staff and service users. An Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) steering group meets regularly, with the involvement of the CEO, to review

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progress and take forward new tasks. The group maintains an EDI Action Plan, reflecting on what has been done, what next steps need to be taken, and what challenges they are likely to face. A staff working group with representation from each AVUK team continues to take forward actions and make recommendations to the steering group. The Trustee Board has a standing 6-monthly EDI agenda item to review and challenge AVUK’s progress in this sphere and has championed the EDI programme, as a sustained inject for best practice

1. Over the past year we have focused on achieving our goals in five key areas:

2. Language – We continue to promote the use of our EDI Language Guide, which sets out best practice in inclusive communications. Having reviewed this at six-month intervals for the first three years of its existence, it will now be reviewed annually. A session has taken place for all staff on using the language guide and its application in all that we do.

3. Resources – We have updated our resources to ensure that they provide a wider representation of different ethnicities, abilities, religions and sexual orientation. We conduct 6-monthly reviews of therapy resources to ensure that they reflect our principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion. We are grateful to Playmobil UK for the donation of ethnically diverse characters for our use in our centres.

4. Recruitment – We continue to implement anonymised recruitment and have successfully hired several new members of staff using this process. We continue to use a range of websites/agencies to ensure the widest possible target audience for role advertisements. We have also made significant progress on a new recruitment guide for use in the organisation which provides enhanced advice on EDI principles and terminology.

5. Data – We have taken steps to close gaps in our EDI data and made significant progress on the data held this year compared to the previous year.

6. Lived Experience – We continued to give staff and external speakers, including board members, the opportunity to talk about their lived experiences regarding different protected characteristics during our whole-team meetings. These sessions have been very well attended, with positive participation by the whole team. We have had a strong focus on deafness, with discussions with a graduate of AVUK programme who uses listening and spoken language and a Deaf Adult whose first language is BSL, as well as discussions led by staff on neurodiversity, Tourette syndrome and Ramadan.

7. We have sought feedback from parents in our annual Family survey on inclusion and diversity. We were very pleased that 81% of parents either strongly agreed or agreed that we are an organisation that respects inclusion and diversity. There was no negative perception of AVUK on this basis, with the other 19% stating that they neither agreed nor disagreed.

Our People

1. AVUK is led by a Board of Trustees headed by Jane Barry as Chair and supported by eight other highly dedicated trustees. The Board sets the organisation’s strategy and is responsible for budget setting and performance oversight. Day-to-day operations are delegated by the Board to Anita Grover as CEO of AVUK and the Senior Management team. AVUK employed 33 people (22.55 FTE) as of July 2024 across Service Delivery, Fundraising, Communications and Engagement, and Operations.

2. We have continued to prioritise staff wellbeing, particularly in the context of widespread hybrid working. There is a weekly breakfast club which enables team members to socialise and discuss their work, as well as a staff wellbeing working group, which brings together members of different teams to identify opportunities for networking and connection, recognising that there needs to be a range of opportunities to reflect the diversity of working patterns and individual preferences for events.

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1. A bimonthly Pulse Survey tracks staff views on workload, work-life balance, happiness at work, being well informed at work and viewing AVUK as a safe space to speak up about issues. There is also an opportunity for all staff to give comments.

2. Although the results fluctuate slightly between months, they have remained positive and broadly stable over the last year, and average scores have never fallen below 2.5 out of 5 (with 1 being the worst and 5 the best possible score) for any of the questions. The results allow the Senior Management Team and Trustee Board to monitor staff satisfaction and identify issues. The results are shared with the entire organisation.

Recruitment

1. In this period we welcomed a new member of staff to each of our Clinical and Family Support teams; two new members of staff to our Fundraising team and successfully recruited to the new post of Policy & Engagement Manager.

2. We continued to benefit from the Whitehall and Industry Group’s Charity Next programme and over the year hosted four secondees from the Civil Service Fast Stream for 6-month secondments; each providing invaluable support to our operational, clinical, training, engagement and research teams. We would like to thank our secondees for their considerable contribution and impact during their time at AVUK.

Voluntary Advisory Panel

1. We are grateful for the ongoing support of our voluntary advisory panel, who make themselves available to support the organisation as needed on a pro-bono basis. The members of the panel can be found here.

Fundraising Advisory Board

1. We are grateful for the ongoing support of our Fundraising Advisory Board, established in 2022 to support our efforts to diversify our fundraising streams and support the long-term funding requirements of the charity as set out in our 10-year strategy.

Developing the Board of Trustees

1. The Board is committed to reviewing and developing itself and reviewing its skills, expertise and representation. This year has seen us recruit three new Trustees to the Board following a competitive recruitment process and we have enhanced our skills sets, including past service user representation.

2. Last year we introduced sub-committees focusing on Finance and Risk, and People and Development which have strengthened Board analysis, reporting and decision making during the year, enabling Board effectiveness.

3. Trustees have also held an annual strategy day in addition to our regular Board meetings during the year and undertaken updated safeguarding training.

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Our Collaborations

1. We are proud to have worked with many organisations and representative bodies to raise expectations and support deaf children both in the UK and around the world. This has included being part of the SEND in The Specialists coalition led by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. We are working with organisations across the speech, language and communications needs sector through the Speech, Language and Communication Alliance led by Speech and Language UK. We have also worked with the National Deaf Children’s Society, the British Deaf Association and National Sensory Impairment Partnership this year as well as the representative bodies of professionals working with deaf children across the UK. We are grateful to all our colleagues in these organisations for their expertise and support in collaboration.

2. Our international collaboration has included working with the Cochlear Implant International Community of Action (CIICA) this year through events and communications and the Alexander Graham Bell Academy. We are also proud to be an international member of the First Voice Network, which brings together organisations across Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK working to support and advocate for deaf children and their families. We have contributed to international research studies, adding to the global body of evidence of outcomes from Auditory Verbal therapy programmes.

Our Infrastructure

1. This year we have continued to develop our IT infrastructure to ensure that our staff have the tools available to do their work well. Development work on our CRM system has continued throughout the year by working with Time Technology consultancy on a number of enhancements.

2. This year we experienced flooding at our London centre in Bermondsey requiring us to move temporarily to shared office space, owned by our landlords, in Borough, London SE1. We would like to thank all our service users and our staff for their flexibility during this period.

3. We were delighted to secure suitable space to offer face to face appointments to families in the Leeds and surrounding area during 2023/24 and this will be further developed in 2024/25.

Our Funding

1. The charity sector has continued to experience fundraising challenges during 2023/2024, a consequence of the ongoing cost-of-living-crisis and economic difficulties within the UK. We are grateful to all our supporters who have enabled our work to continue this year and to the Fundraising Advisory Board who give their time voluntarily to support our work in this area.

Fundraising Activities

1. Our fundraising team make applications for funding, organise events, and carry out fundraising activities to generate income for the charity. AVUK does not use third party fundraisers and there have been no complaints about fundraising activity this year. The charity is a member of the Fundraising Regulator and has due regard to the Code of Fundraising Practice in the UK.

2. All the charity’s marketing activities are undertaken directly to ensure that it is not unreasonably persistent or intrusive. Marketing materials contain clear details of how to unsubscribe to future communications and care is taken to limit the level of communications being sent out.

Financial & Fundraising Overview

1. The fundraising team has successfully increased income, raising sufficient funds to allow us to maintain our existing services, while building for the future by securing new supporters. We are

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grateful to all our supporters, both new and old, for allowing us to continue operating at this economically challenging time. We could not continue transforming outcomes for deaf children without your generous support.

1. Over the past year we have continued to improve the skills and capacity of the team to put AVUK in the best possible position to meet our fundraising targets and diversify our income.

2. We are pleased to work with our corporate partners including Kintbury Capital, Richer Sounds, Barratt Homes and Markerstudy Group, who provide us with invaluable fundraising and communications support. We were also pleased to form relationships with new corporate partners including Deaf metal and Bloomsbury Flowers; their assistance is appreciated. We are grateful to all the organisations and individuals who have given their time and offered space at their venues to host our events.

3. Trustees seek to maximise funds spent in the direct furtherance of the charity’s objectives and keep the proportion of charitable funds spent on administration and fundraising to a prudent minimum level commensurate with the effective and professional operation of the charity and its future sustainability.

4. Accounts for this financial year have been successfully audited.

5. Total income for the period amounted to £2,295,053 (2023: £1,282,021); Total income for the year was forecasted to be £1,848,658 including a fundraising target of £1,564,000. The final contribution for fundraising was £2,040,773, which included a legacy donation of £591,000 from the estate of Mr John Thompson.

6. Unrestricted income amounted to £1,757,146 (2023: £900,521) with donations of £1,502,866 (2023: £637,676). Restricted income amounted to £537,907 (2023: £381,500) all from donations. Income from charitable activities was £253,009 (2023: £261,982).

7. Expenditure amounted to £1,887,890 (2023: £1,585,377) split between £435,907 (2023: £184,499) of restricted and £1,451,983 (2023: £1,400,878) of unrestricted spending. An overall surplus of £407,163 (2023: deficit £303,356) was delivered comprising of a restricted surplus of £112,000 and an unrestricted surplus of £295,163. This has resulted in an increased restricted reserve of £274,775 (2023: £162,775) and unrestricted reserve of 561,684 (2023: £266,521). AVUK ended the period in a strong position able to maintain and deliver its services.

8. Our priorities for 2024/25 and beyond include a continued focus on the level of unrestricted reserves in order to support existing and planned charitable activity and to mitigate financial risks. We aim to keep 3 months’ budgeted expenditure as reserves, with not less than 50% is unrestricted.

Risk Overview

1. The trustees review the organisation’s strategic risks and mitigation plans at their spring and autumn meetings. The top two strategic risks to the organisation and the plans and strategies for managing them are:

Risk	Management Strategy
Failure to secure suffcient funding to sustain operations in order to deliver our strategy; maintain workable cashfow; and adhere to our reserves policy.	Ensure there is a strong pipeline in place which is regularly reviewed and adapted. Developing a comprehensive fundraising strategy which focuses on diversifcation of the FR portfolio and explores innovative approaches to securing funds by leveraging digital platforms and creative initiatives. Ensuring that the FR team is fully and properlyresourced. Increasingefforts and

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	resource to secure funding from central and local government, and the devolved administrations, as well as private sector investment. Continue to implement strict cost control measures to ensure value for moneyand fnancial sustainability.
Loss of specialist staff expertise impacting on ability to deliver high-quality family programme and training to professionals due to limited numbers of AVTs in UK with experience in training, mentoring and research.	Focus on staff retention, well-being and development opportunities. Increasing opportunities for clinical staff to develop skills in training and mentoring others and implemented a series of pay enhancements in line with NHS pay scales to recognise the specialist skills. Development of succession plans. Access to skills and resources from centres delivering AVT in other countries.
Failure to engage successfully with decision makers and professional community to increase number of AVTs in UK. The success of the 10-year strategy depends upon engaging and infuencing key stakeholders in central and local government, throughout the NHS and education services, and with the professional bodies.	Taking an agile approach to our engagement and outreach strategy; building on feedback from professionals and stakeholders; drawing on expert advisory panel and those who are delivering AVT and training in the approach. Working collaboratively with organisations across the sector. Investment made in engagement and outreach activity.

OUR PRIORITIES FOR 2024/25

1. In 2024/25 our work will continue to focus on transforming opportunities and outcomes for deaf children in the UK; increasing understanding, profile and reach of Auditory Verbal therapy; engaging key decision makers across health and education services to ensure all families of deaf children have the opportunity to access AV therapy as part of the pathway for deaf children by providing public funding to train a small proportion of public sector workforce; and developing ourselves and our organisation to be the best we can be in line with our values and mission.

2. Our strategic programme is made up of four workstreams covering our family programme and support; our training programme and professional development; our research and evidence; and our engagement and outreach activity, underpinned by our fundraising, communications and operations work.

Supporting families now and in the future

1. We will continue to deliver a high-quality Auditory Verbal therapy programme and family support to an increased number of families of deaf children towards our long-term goal of 120 families per year.

2. In 2024/25 we will seek to ensure that we maintain a regular caseload of around 90 families at any one time. We will deliver a regular programme of family support and information through one-toone sessions; signposting funding, themed online events and courses (The Nurturing Programme, peer to peer support, Meet an AVT) and annual parent-only consultations.

3. To ensure that we continue to maintain excellent standards, we will run our annual parental survey in February or March 2025 and compare results to those from the past year. We are also aiming to increase awareness of Auditory Verbal therapy by continuing our successful series of free online events for families interested in AV therapy through social media, online platforms and in collaboration with partners such as the National Deaf Children’s Society.

4. We will continue to promote AV therapy for families who want their children to learn to listen and talk and support more families to join an Auditory Verbal Programme by increasing the number of free initial appointments available to families.

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1. We will streamline the administrative processes for therapy to make them more efficient to therapists and accessible to families and support the clinicians in the accurate data entry for children on caseload.

Building the workforce

1. Our training workstream will focus on delivering, strengthening, and expanding our training programme to increase the numbers of speech and language therapists, audiologists and teachers of the deaf undertaking short courses, Foundation and Advanced training in AV practice. We will focus on targeted area-wide delivery; increasing the numbers continuing to Advanced Level training; delivering improvements to our course material; establishing our ‘Train the Trainer’ model and expanding work with universities.

2. In 2024/25 we will continue to deliver high-quality training to at least 15 Foundation and 8 Advanced cohorts. We will continue our work develop and expand the Continued Mentoring Programme and launch the ‘Train the Trainer Model’ in 2025 for qualified practitioners to be able to train others in their teams.

3. We will continue to work with the Alexander Graham Bell Academy and Board to champion and share best practice in the field of Auditory Verbal therapy and training to support the professional development of practitioners in the UK and around the world, including rolling out our successful programme of Alexander Graham Bell Academy accredited short-courses and webinars for professionals.

Engaging for change

1. We will engage with key stakeholders for investment in training of a small proportion of the public workforce, with a focus on the new UK Government and strategic engagement of decision makers at national, regional and local level to embed AV therapy on the pathway for deaf children under the age of five, through our Hear Us Now campaign.

2. We will engage key ministers, NHS England, ICBs and Health Trusts, alongside education services, across the UK, to advocate for mandation of AV therapy on the pathway for deaf children and funding to train a small proportion of public sector workforce and publish our economic impact assessment by Spring 2025 as part of our targeted communications to key audiences.

3. We will continue to engage with key stakeholders in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to secure funding for training speech and language therapists, teachers of the deaf and audiologists in each of the devolved administrations and increase the number of professionals enrolled onto both the Foundation and Advanced courses by July 2025 and families supported directly as the workforce of the future builds.

4. We will hold a series of events including Loud Shirt Day in October 2024. These events aim to challenge perceptions of what deaf children can achieve, whilst increasing awareness of Auditory Verbal therapy and the importance of early and effective support for deaf children whether their families wish to use spoken language, sign language or both.

5. We will strive to deliver a targeted media strategy to increase coverage and reach specific audiences. This will include developing our digital channels, as well as engaging current/potential supporters through impactful digital communications to increase income from individual donors towards our targets of £2.1m per year.

6. In September 2024 we will launch our 'Workforce of the Future' project to engage and educate university students across the UK on AV therapy and working with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, BATOD and National Deaf Children’s Society, we will lead a working group

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with recommendations to support the further development of the workforce.

1. We will continue to work in close collaboration with colleagues across the sector to champion access to early, effective support for deaf children to develop their language and communication and the critical need for investment in specialist support for families whether they wish to use spoken language, sign language or both.

Enhancing the evidence base

1. Our research workstream will continue to share research and best practice with the professional community to demonstrate the benefits of an Auditory Verbal approach. In 2024/25 we will attend targeted conferences to continue to engage and educate professionals and organisations on the outcomes of AV therapy and increase the pipeline of those training.

2. Our research workstream will be focused on demonstrating the outcomes from Auditory Verbal therapy and training in Auditory Verbal practice. We will focus on securing a National Institute for Health and Care Research grant and delivering evidence for NHS England on the feasibility of rolling out training in Auditory Verbal therapy to practitioners working with deaf children under the age of five.

3. We will update the education outcomes for AVUK graduate children at KS1, KS2 and KS4 by Autumn 2024 and continue to update this annually thereafter. We will further demonstrate outcomes for children on the Auditory Verbal programme through analysis of Preschool Language Scale (PLS) results and annually update figures for those achieving age-appropriate language.

4. We will review in-house and international research relating to the impact of Auditory Verbal therapy on families and expand and publicise our research and outcomes, publishing our 2024 position and collaborating with First Voice on their 2024/25 Sound Outcomes Report.

Developing our organisation and building for the future

Equity, diversity and inclusion

1. We will continue to champion equity, diversity, and inclusion through our programme of lived experience sessions with a bi-monthly focus on lived experience of deafness and work of our EDI workstream, which involves representatives from across the organisation, our Senior Management Team, and Trustees.

2. We aim to increase the visibility of deaf role models for families and professionals through our channels and increase the diversity on our Board of Trustees. We will increase our engagement with under-represented families and review this engagement in December 24.

Our People

1. We will support our people through learning, development, connection, well-being and innovation to be the best we can be with strong governance and systems in place to support the delivery of our 10-year-strategy.

2. We will help to develop our team members by using a new platform called ShiftWorks, developed by the Kings Fund, and drawing on the expertise of Graham Loudon-Carter to support our whole team development during the year. We will also continue to develop our ‘innovation space’ to enable us to be at the forefront of clinical practice and ways of working. In addition, we will provide all clinicians with CPD opportunities and training that will benefit the entire team

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Our Infrastructure

1. We will strengthen our infrastructure through improvements to our CRM working with Time Technology consultancy and a new CRM manager and will increase our use of AI to support our organisational effectiveness.

2. To help support our staff, we will continue to have an IT User Group which meets monthly. This group facilitates cross-department learning, helps formulate IT policy and priorities, as well as providing additional user training on Office 365 and general technology across the year. We will be striving to achieve Cyber Security Accreditation.

3. As part of our drive to be an environmentally conscious charity, we will continue to make progress towards paperless processes, formulating requirements and creating an implementation plan over the next year. Some members of the clinical team have been provided with tablets and stylus pens to facilitate electronic handwritten note taking. We will explore and implement, where applicable, applications to support business and drive efficiencies, i.e. new leave management and appointment systems.

4. We will complete a review of our estates requirements and develop plans for implementation in late 2024/2025.

Our Funding

1. Our fundraising team underpins our strategic programme to deliver our annual objectives. Working towards our ten-year strategy, we will aim to generate £1.3m of voluntary funding in 2024/25 including increased funds from corporate funders while continuing to provide the framework to deliver at least £2.1m year on year.

2. We are delighted to have the support of the Fundraising Advisory Board, established in 2022/23 to support the acquisition of new high-value long-term funding partners. We will also further develop our family alumni network to support fundraising, engagement and advocacy.

3. We will develop a fundraising innovation working group to explore new and creative ways to raise funds and hope to develop initial recommendations by Spring 25.

TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES

1. The trustees (who are also directors of the Auditory Verbal Centre for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report (including the Strategic Report) and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

2. Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

3. Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently.

4. Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP 2019 (FRS 102).

5. Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.

6. State whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements.

7. Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in operation.

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1. The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

2. In so far as the trustees are aware: there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditor is unaware; and the trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.

3. The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

4. In approving the Trustees’ Annual Report, we also approve the Strategic Report included therein, in our capacity as company directors.

On Behalf of the Trustees

Jane Barry Chair of Trustees 17 December 2024

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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF AUDITORY VERBAL CENTRE LIMITED

Opinion

1. We have audited the financial statements of The Auditory Verbal Centre (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 July 2023 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

2. In our opinion the financial statements:

3. give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs at 31 July 2024, and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the twelve months then ended;

4. have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

5. have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Basis for opinion

1. We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

1. In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

2. Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

3. Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

1. The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the trustees’ annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

2. In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a

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material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

1. We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

1. In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

2. the information given in the trustees’ report (incorporating the strategic report and the directors’ report) for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

3. the strategic report and the directors’ report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

1. In the light of our knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the strategic report and the directors’ report.

2. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

3. adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

4. the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

5. certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or

6. we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

Responsibilities of trustees

1. As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement [set out on pages 11-12], the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

2. In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

1. Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

2. A further description of our responsibilities for audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

3. Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in

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respect of irregularities, including fraud. The specific procedures for this engagement and the extent to which these are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

• Enquiry of management and those charged with governance around actual and potential litigation and claims;

• Reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance;

• Reviewing financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

• Performing audit work over the risk of management override of controls, including testing of journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness, evaluating the business rationale of significant transactions outside the normal course of business and reviewing accounting estimates for bias.

• Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

Use of our report

1. This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Ajay Bahl BA BFP FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of Wenn Townsend, Statutory Auditor, 30 St Giles’, Oxford OX13LE

Date 17 December 2024

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STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

(INCLUDING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024

Note Income from: Donations 2 Charitable activities 3 Investments Total income Expenditure on: Raising funds 4 Charitable activities 5 Total expenditure Net income/(expenditure) Transfers between funds Net movement in funds Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward	2024 2023 Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total £ £ £ £ £ £ 1,502,866 537,907 2,040,773 637,676 381,500 1,019,176 253,009 - 253,009 261,982 - 261,982 1,271 - 1,271 863 - 863
	1,757,146 537,907 2,295,053 900,521 381,500 1,282,021
	518,817 197,286 716,103 495,890 - 495,890 933,166 238,621 1,171,787 904,988 184,499 1,089,487
	1,451,983 435,907 1,887,890 1,400,878 184,499 1,585,377
	305,163 102,000 407,163 (500,357) 197,001 (303,356) (10,000) 10,000 - 150,282 (150,282) -
	295,163 112,000 407,163 (350,075) 46,719 (303,356) 266,521 162,775 429,296 616,596 116,056 732,652
	561,684 274,775 836,459 266,521 162,775 429,296

All income and expenditure derives from continuing activities.

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised during the year.

The notes on pages 18 to 30 form part of these financial statements.

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BALANCE SHEET AT 31 JULY 2024

		31 July 2024	31 July 2023
	Note	£	£
Fixed assets
Tangible assets	10	22,164	36,148
Current Assets
Stocks		1,100	1,313
Debtors	11	690,070	239,260
Cash at bank and in hand		302,772	319,679
		993,942	560,252
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year	12	(179,647)	(167,104)
Net current assets		814,295	393,148
Net assets		836,459	429,296
Charity funds
Unrestricted reserves	13	561,684	266,521
Restricted funds	14	274,775	162,775
		836,459	429,296

These financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Board on 27 January 2025.

fbi Jane Barry Chair of Trustees

Company Number 04569764 (England and Wales)

The notes on pages 18 to 30 form part of these financial statements.

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STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
Note Cash flow from operating activities 17 Cash flow from investing activities: Payments to acquire tangible fixed assets 10 Interest received Net cash flow from investing activities Net increase in cash and cash equivalents Cash and cash equivalents at 01 August 2023 Cash and cash equivalents at 31 July 2024	Year ended 31 July 2024 Year ended 31 July 2023 £ £ (13,327) (351,811) (4,851) (689) 1,271 863
	(3,580) 174
	(16,907) (351,637) 319,679 671,316
	302,772 319,679

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NOTES FORMING PART OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 JULY 2024

1 SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

General information and basis of preparation The Auditory Verbal Centre is a charitable company limited by guarantee registered in the UK. In the event of the charity being would up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the charity. The address of the registered office is given in the charity information on page 3 of these accounts. The nature of the charity’s operations and principal activities are to achieve the relief of people suffering from hearing difficulties and the relief of distress by the education of their families and carers of the needs of people with hearing difficulties.

The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102). The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued on 16 July 2014, the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2015, the Financial Reporting Standard and UK Generally Accepted Practice as it applies from 01 January 2019 (Charities SORP 2019).

The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis under the historical cost convention. The financial statements are prepared in sterling which is the functional currency of the charity.

The significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all years presented unless otherwise stated.

Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources receivable or generated for the objects of the charity without further restriction and are available as general funds.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the Trustees for particular purposes.

Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is charged to the fund.

Income recognition:

All incoming resources are included in the Statement of Financial Activities when the charity is legally entitled to the income, after any performance conditions have been met, the amount can be measured reliably and it is probable that the income will be received.

For donations to be recognised the charity will have been notified of the amounts and the settlement date in writing. If there are conditions attached to the donation and this requires a level of performance before entitlement can be obtained, then income is deferred until those conditions are fully met or the fulfilment of those conditions is within the control of the charity and it is probable that they will be fulfilled.

Donated facilities and donated professional services are recognised in income at their fair value when their economic benefit is probable, it can be measured reliably and the charity has control over the item. Fair value is determined on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity. For example, the amount the charity would be willing to pay in the open market for such facilities and services. A corresponding amount is recognised in expenditure.

Income from charitable activities includes fees receivable for therapy sessions and training. Investment income is interest receivable on cash at bank.

No amount is included in the financial statements for volunteer time in line with the SORP (FRS 102). Further detail is given in the Trustees’ Annual Report.

Expenditure recognition:

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. Expenditure is recognised where there is a legal or constructive

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obligation to make payments to third parties, it is probable that the settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. It is categorised under the headings of cost of raising funds and expenditure on charitable activities including direct and support costs.

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as an expense against the activity for which expenditure arose.

Operating leases

Rentals payable under operating leases are charged to the SOFA on a straight line basis over the period of the lease.

Taxation

The charity is an exempt charity within the meaning of schedule 3 of the Charities Act 2011 and is considered to pass the tests set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 Finance Act 2010 and therefore it meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes.

Support costs allocation

Support costs are those that assist the work of the charity but do not directly represent charitable activities and include office running costs, non-salary communications’ costs, governance costs and management costs. They are incurred directly in support of expenditure on the objects of the charity and include central management costs. Premises overheads have been included as direct costs.

Fundraising costs are those incurred in seeking voluntary contributions including communications staff costs but do not include the costs of disseminating information in support of the charitable activities.

Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost of each asset over its expected useful life, which with the exception of the leasehold improvements and systems development, is estimated, at a maximum of 3 years. Leasehold improvements have been depreciated over the term of the lease and systems development over 5 years.

Stocks are carried at the lower of cost and net realisable value.

Debtors and creditors receivable/payable within one year with no stated interest rate and receivable or payable within one year are recorded at transaction price. Any losses arising from impairment are recognised in expenditure.

Employee benefits start when employees have rendered service to the charity, short-term employee benefits to which the employees are entitled are recognised at the undiscounted amount expected to be paid in exchange for that service. The charity operates a defined contribution plan for the benefit of its employees. Contributions are expensed as they become payable.

Going concern

The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis as the trustees believe that no material uncertainties exist. The trustees have considered the level of funds held and the expected level of income and expenditure for 12 months from authorising these financial statements. The budgeted income and expenditure is sufficient with the level of reserves for the charity to be able to continue as a going concern.

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2 INCOME FROM DONATIONS			2024	2023
	Unrestricted	Restricted	Total	Total
	£	£	£	£
AB David Charity	2,000	-	2,000	2,000
Anonymous	114,037	-	114,037	7,219
Anonymous grant	80,586	-	80,586	-
Anthony Basquiat	3,000	-	3,000	-
BBC - BBC Radio 4 Appeal	-	-	-	16,205
Blueberry Wellbeing	-	15,000	15,000	-
D&B Blood	10,000	-	10,000	-
Brightside insurance	17,671	-	17,671	9,276
Cochlear Foundation Ltd	-	9,907	9,907	-
Chris Dale	2,000	-	2,000	-
Criss & Milburn	1,000	-	1,000	-
Esmée Fairbairn	-	100,000	100,000	120,000
Freemasons	-	-	-	500
Garfield Weston Foundation	-	75,000	75,000	45,000
GJW Turner	-	-	-	10,000
Goldman Sachs International	20,000	-	20,000	-
Guy O’Keefe	3,000	-	3,000	-
Halbard Trust	-	-	-	1,000
Hedley Foundation	-	-	-	3,500
Hill House School	-	-	-	1,808
HMRC gift aid	20,267	-	20,267	13,779
Hodge Foundation	-	10,000	10,000	-
J A Pye Settlement	-	-	-	2,500
JC Foundation	24,000	-	24,000	-
Ian Gascoigne	35,000	-	35,000	-
David Johnson	1,300	-	1,300	-
Jorge Villon	15,000	-	15,000	96,000
Julian Hodge Bank	-	-	-	10,000
Kintbury Capital	10,000	-	10,000	-
KJ Brewer	1,000	-	1,000	-
Konrad Kuch	5,997	-	5,997	-
The Leathersellers Foundation	-	-	-	10,000
Liana Pat	15,000	-	15,000	-
Lodge Capital Ltd	20,000	-	20,000	-
Anonymous Charitable Trust	-	5,000	5,000	-
Lucinda Blandford	10,000	-	10,000	-
M&H Farrer	6,000	-	6,000	-
Mrs Malgorz	4,200	-	4,200	-
Man Charitable Trust	50,000	-	50,000	50,000
Marcelino Castrillo	3,000	-	3,000	-
Marguerite Foundation	150,000	-	150,000	150,000
Anonymous Foundation	-	240,000	240,000	147,000
Markerstudy Insurance	-	-	-	1,000
Mount Street Printers	2,000	-	2,000	-

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2 INCOME FROM DONATIONS Murray Beith New Inspiration Pemberly Hall Ramgarhia Sabha Trust Rathbone Investment Management K & G Remy G & J Rossi Richer Sounds Foundation Schroders Charity Trust Simon Haslam Sohn Foundation Spencer Kevin Sporting Bears Motor Club Susanna Peake Charitable Trust The Lovel Foundation Taylor Steven TFG Asset Management The Considered Ask Foundation The Grace Trust The G F Eyre Charitable Trust The Hargreaves Foundation The Sobell Foundation The Lovel Foundation The Syncona Foundation Tambour Foundation The Barratt Foundation Thompson Legacy The Charities Trust The Dorothy Hay-Bolton Charitable Trust Tresidor Investment Management Otto Varty The Wonder of Sound Event William Cortazzi UBS UK ULF EK Donations from individuals, community groups and small trusts below £1,000

2024 2023 Unrestricted Restricted Total Total 1,000 - 1,000 - 5,300 - 5,300 - 10,000 - 10,000 8,000 2,532 - 2,532 - 5,000 - 5,000 5,000 1,000 - 1,000 - 6,000 - 6,000 - - - - 10,000 - - - 4,000 6,500 - 6,500 - - - 25,000 8,000 8,000 - - - - 7,500 10,000 - - 10,000 10,000 10,000 5,000 - 2,000 - 2,000 - 30,000 - 30,000 - 24,725 - 24,725 30,000 1,500 - 1,500 1,250 1,500 - 1,500 - - - - 25,000 - 25,000 25,000 25,000 - - - 10,000 80,000 - 80,000 80,000 - - 30,000 - - - 2,500 590,279 - 590,279 - - - - 7592 4,000 - 4,000 3,000 5,000 - 5,000 - 1,194 - 1,194 - - 48,000 48,000 - 1,794 - 1,794 - 12,000 - 12,000 - 25,000 - 25,000 - 42,484 - 42,484 44,047

1,502,866 537,907 2,040,773 1,019,176

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3 INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Sale of Books / CD's Sessional Income Training Income Other Income	Unrestricted Restricted 2024 Total 2023 Total 194 194 266 186,457 - 186,457 180,130 65,808 - 65,808 70,196 550 - 550 11,390
	253,009 - 253,009 261,982

4 RAISING FUNDS

Staff Costs Other Costs	Unrestricted Restricted 2024 Total 2023 Total 359,802 32,000 391,802 334,112 159,015 165,286 324,301 161,778
	518,817 197,286 716,103 495,890

During the year the bi-annual Wonder of Sound event was held. This incurs significant additional fundraising costs which are covered by a generous restricted donation and the associated gift aid recovery (see note 14).

5 CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Direct Costs: Staff Costs Other Direct Costs Support Costs (note 6) Governance Costs (note 7)	Unrestricted Restricted 2024 Total 2023 Total 295,728 208,907 504,635 397,482 47,662 - 47,662 47,465 584,496 29,714 614,210 639,260 5,280 - 5,280 5,280
	933,166 238,621 1,171,787 1,089,487

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6 SUPPORT COSTS

Indirect Staff Costs Recruitment Staff Training & Conferences Travel & Other Staff Costs IT Premises Insurance Consumables Legal & Professional Accountancy & Payroll Bad Debt Depreciation Bank Charges Sundry Expenses Costs of goods sold	Unrestricted Restricted 2024 Total 2023 Total 370,209 - 370,209 367,419 16,970 - 16,970 21,303 8,577 - 8,577 10,204 5,051 - 5,051 3,986 47,271 - 47,271 52,840 94,528 29,714 124,242 132,196 1,661 - 1,661 1,190 940 - 940 1,930 397 - 397 3,010 20,223 - 20,223 20,611 2,573 - 2,573 4,950 14,351 - 14,351 17,398 1,595 - 1,595 1,760 150 - 150 463 - - - -
	584,496 29,714 614,210 639,260

Support costs in 2024 related to £584,496 to unrestricted expenditure, and £29,714 to restricted costs.

7 GOVERNANCE COSTS

Auditors Remuneration	Unrestricted Restricted 2024 Total 2023 Total 5,280 - 5,280 5,280
	5,280 - 5,280 5,280

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8 EXPENDITURE

	2024	2023
	£	£
Net income/(expenditure) is stated after charging:
Depreciation of tangible fixed assets	18,836	22,197
Operating lease rentals, including VAT	134,689	135,082

The key management personnel are the trustees, the chief executive, the director of finance and operations and the operations manager. The trustees neither received nor waived any remuneration during the period (2023: Nil). The total cost of employment of key management personnel was £151,840 (2023: £145,882). There were two employees with an annual salary in the £60,000 - £70,000 band (2023: Nil) on which pension contributions of £8,509 were paid and two employees in the £70,000 - £80,000 band (2023: two) on which pension contributions of £13,238 (2023: £12,848) were paid.

The charity pays attendance travel expenses and provides refreshments at trustee meetings. Total cost was £nil (2023: £nil).

The average monthly number of employees and full time equivalent (FTE) during the period was as follows:

Raising funds Charitable activities/support	2024 2024 2023 2023 Number FTE Number FTE 5 5 4 3 25 17 24 15
	30 22 28 18

The total staff costs and employees benefits was as follows:

Staff costs analysis Salaries Social security costs Other pension costs Staff costs by function Raising funds Charitable activities	2024 2023 £ £ 1,074,304 967,935 110,511 71,889 81,831 59,189
	1,266,646 1,099,013
	391,802 334,112 874,844 764,901
	1,266,646 1,099,013

9 TAXATION

The charitable company is exempt from corporation tax for its charitable activities.

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10 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS Training Office Leasehold Equipment Equipment Improvements £ £ £ Cost At 1 August 2023 27,632 140,467 11,094 Additions - 4,851 - At 31 July 2024 27,632 145,318 11,094 Depreciation At 1 August 2023 27,632 130,367 11,094 Charge for the year - 7,531 - At 31 July 2024 27,632 137,898 11,094 Written down value At 31 July 2024 - 7,420 - At 31 July 2023 - 10,100 - 11 DEBTORS Rent deposit Trade debtors Sundry debtors Prepayments and accrued income	10 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS Training Office Leasehold Equipment Equipment Improvements £ £ £ Cost At 1 August 2023 27,632 140,467 11,094 Additions - 4,851 - At 31 July 2024 27,632 145,318 11,094 Depreciation At 1 August 2023 27,632 130,367 11,094 Charge for the year - 7,531 - At 31 July 2024 27,632 137,898 11,094 Written down value At 31 July 2024 - 7,420 - At 31 July 2023 - 10,100 - 11 DEBTORS Rent deposit Trade debtors Sundry debtors Prepayments and accrued income	Systems Development Total £ £ 56,526 235,719 - 4,851
	27,632 145,318 11,094	56,526 240,570
	27,632 130,367 11,094 - 7,531 -	30,478 199,571 11,304 18,835
	27,632 137,898 11,094	41,782 218,406
	- 7,420 -	14,744 22,164
	- 10,100 -	26,048 36,148
		2024 2023 £ £ 23,500 23,500 28,384 49,229 3,871 2,705 634,315 163,826
		690,070 239,260

Included in prepayments and accrued income is a legacy of £590,279.

12 CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR Trade creditors Accruals and deferred income* Other creditors	2024 2023 £ £ 26,951 20,162 101,629 111,116 51,067 35,826
	179,647 167,104

*Deferred income represents training courses invoiced in advance net of bursary awards, totalling £55,993 (2023: £72,633) of which £40,717 (2023: £42,309) relates to the year ending 31 July 2025 and £15,276 (2023: £30,324) to future periods.

13 CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

At 1 August 2023 Net surplus/(deficit) for the period including transfers At 31 July 2024	£ 266,521 295,163
	561,684

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14 RESTRICTED FUNDS Blueberry Wellbeing Cochlear Foundation Garfield Weston Foundation Hodge Foundation Esmée Fairbairn J Villon Anonymous Charitable Trust Lovel Anonymous Foundation Moondance Foundation The Sobell Foundation The Hargreaves Foundation	At 1 Aug 2023 Incoming resources Resources expended/ transferred At 31 July 2024 £ £ £ £ - 15,000 (6,000) 9,000 - 9,907 (9,907) - - 75,000 (19,000) 56,000 - 10,000 (10,000) - - 100,000 (80,000) 20,000 108,000 48,000 (156,000) - - 5,000 (5,000) - - 10,000 (10,000) - - 240,000 (80,000) 160,000 29,775 - - 29,775 - 25,000 (25,000) - 25,000 - (25,000) -
	162,775 537,907 (425,907) 274,775

There was a gross transfer of £10,000 from unrestricted funds to restricted funds during the year.

Fund	Purpose
Hodge Foundation	Clinician’s salary
John Horniman’s Childrens’ Trust	Clinician’s salary
KintburyCapital	FamilyBursaries
The Lovel Foundation	Familybursaryandproject research and salaryof intern
The Marguerite Foundation	Clinicians’ salaries; familybursaries
Anonymous Foundation	Bursaries and outreach work
Moondance Foundation	Familybursaries in Wales
The Sobell Foundation	Core costs
The Hargreaves Foundation	Clinicians salaries and familybursaries
Esmée Fairbairn	Core costs and clinicians salaries
BlueberryWellbeing	Familybursaries
Cochlear Foundation	Familybursaries
Garfield Weston Foundation	Core costs and clinicians salaries
J Villon	Wonder of Sound event

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14 RESTRICTED FUNDS (prior year) Hedley Foundation I Can, Communication Trust J Villon Julian Hodge Bank Kintbury Capital The Lovel Foundation Marguerite Foundation Anonymous Foundation Moondance Foundation Susanna Peake Charitable Trust The Considered Ask Foundation The Sobell Foundation The Hargreaves Foundation The Tambour Foundation	At 1 Aug 2022 Incoming resources Resources expended/ transferred At 31 July 2023 £ £ £ £ 3,500 (3,500) 2,917 (2,917) - 108,000 108,000 10,000 (10,000) 6,825 (6,825) 20,000 (20,000) - 150,000 (150,000) 48,207 (48,207) 29,775 - 29,775 8,332 (8332) 30,000 (30,000) - 25,000 (25,000) 25,000 25,000 30,000 (30,000)
	116,056 381,500 (334,781) 162,775

There were no gross transfers between restricted and unrestricted funds. Restricted funds towards the costs of therapy sessions or training provision were allocated during the period.

Fund	Purpose
The Beehive Fund	Family Bursaries
CHK Charities Ltd	Family Bursaries
The City Bridge Trust	Core London centre costs
CMA Mr A Slavin	Family Bursaries
Hodge Foundation	Clinician’s salary
John Horniman’s Childrens’ Trust	Clinician’s salary
Kintbury Capital	Family Bursaries
The Lovel Foundation	Family bursary and SI project research and salary of intern
The Lord & Lady Lurgan Trust	Clinician’s salary
The Leathersellers Foundation	London centre core costs
The Marguerite Foundation	Clinicians’ salary
Anonymous Foundation	Bursaries and outreach work
Moondance Foundation	Family bursaries in Wales
Ovingdean Hall Foundation	Salary costs for delivering therapy, training for health professionals and family support workshops
PF Charitable Trust	Clinician’s salary, family bursaries and core costs
The National Lottery Community Fund	Clinician’s salary
The Postcode Neighbourhood Trust	Family Bursaries
Schroders Charitable Trust	Salary and core costs
The Sobell Foundation	Core costs
The Stanley Grundy Charitable Trust	Training bursaries
The Hargreaves Foundation	Therapist salaries and family bursaries

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15 FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS

The charity renewed the lease on its Oxfordshire premises for five years with a break clause after three years from 7[th] August 2022, terminating in January 2025, at an annual rent of £27,501. There is a five-year lease on its London premises at an annual rent including service charge of £103,338 plus VAT.

16 ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

Tangible fixed assets Stock Debtors Bank and cash balances Current creditors Prior year Tangible fixed assets Stock Debtors Bank and cash balances Current creditors	Unrestricted Restricted 2024 Funds Funds Total £ £ £ 22,164 - 22,164 1,100 - 1,100 680,070 - 599,791 37,997 274,775 302,772 (179,647) - (179,647)
	561,684 274,775 746,180
	Unrestricted Restricted 2023 Funds Funds Total £ £ £ 36,148 - 36,148 1,313 - 1,313 239,260 - 239,260 156,904 162,775 319,679 (167,104) - (167,104)
	266,521 162,775 429,296

17 RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) TO NET CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

ACTIVITIES
Net income /(expenditure) for year Interest receivable Depreciation (Increase)/decrease in stock (Increase)/decrease in debtors Increase/(decrease) in creditors Net cash in/(out)flow from operating activities	2024 2023 £ £ 407,163 (303,356) (1,271) (863) 18,836 22,197 213 (690) (450,811) (121,759) 12,543 52,660
	(13,327) (351,811)

18 RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

• The charity paid attendance travel expenses, a training course and provided refreshments at trustee meetings. Total cost was £140 (2023: £nil) of which nothing was owed at 31 July 2024 (2023: £Nil).

• The total of donations received from trustees was £nil (2023: £nil).

• Individuals related to the trustees received bursaries for services with a value of £4,641 (2023: £nil).

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OUR SUPPORTERS

AVUK is extremely grateful to all its supporters who have either donated to us directly or inspired others to support and those who have so generously given their time to our charity. We would especially like to thank Jorge Villon, Lindsey McMurray and the incredible team behind the Wonder of Sound event, held at BAFTA in September 2023, and the following contributors, alongside all our amazing regular donors and other supporters who wish to remain anonymous.

Atkins Realis Bloomsbury Flowers The Dorothy Hay Bolton Charitable Trust Cochlear Foundation Deafmetal Esmée Fairbairn Foundation G F Eyre Charitable Trust Garfield Weston Foundation Grace Trust Graham Loudon-Carter Gwen Carr Hodge Foundation Investec James Rosenthal Lovel Foundation Malinka Man Charitable Trust Marguerite Foundation Markerstudy Group Ovingdean Hall Foundation Richer Sounds Susanna Peake Charitable Trust CA Redfern Trust Sobell Foundation South Square Trust The Syncona Foundation

Thank you.

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