2025-07-31-accounts

The Auditory Verbal Centre

REPORT & ACCOUNTS FOR YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

THE AUDITORY VERBAL CENTRE

Company Number 04569764

(England and Wales) Charity Number 1095133

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The Auditory Verbal Centre

LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS	3
TRUSTEES’ REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTOR’S REPORT AND STRATEGIC REPORT)	4
ANNUAL REVIEW 24/25	5
TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES	22
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES	27
BALANCE SHEET AT 31 JULY 2025	28
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS	29
NOTES FORMING PART OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS	30
OUR SUPPORTERS	40

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LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Trustees	Jane Barry (Chair)
	Shiona Adamson
	Katherine Bartrop
	Christopher Campbell
	Paul Clifford (retired 02 July 2025)
	Amelia Ehren
	Duncan King (Treasurer, appointed 01 July 2025)
	Jonathan Pepper (resigned 14 July 2025)
	Gillian Smith
	Aileen Thompson (Vice Chair)
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 2025. 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, holding the Executive to account 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. The Board sub-committees (Finance and Risk sub-committee and the People and Development sub-committee) continue to meet once a quarter and provide scrutiny and direction on their respective areas to the full Board and 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. Other members of the AVUK team are invited to attend Board meetings or sub-committees to present new proposals, plans, and research as well as discussing 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 arising 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, Head of Fundraising and Treasurer ensure a regular dialogue in between meetings. Policies on reserves and fundraising/administrative expenditure are in operation (see paragraphs 102-111).

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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.

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 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. 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. Level 2 whole team bespoke safeguarding training will take place in 2025/26.

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 appointments and key staff will undertake the refresher “Safer Recruitment” training in 2025/26. Enhanced DBS checks are carried out for all Trustees, staff and volunteers and regulated through the DBS update service.

ANNUAL REVIEW 24/25

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 specialist therapists in the UK; we need to support families now; and we need to build sustainable services for the future that are inclusive and enable equality of opportunity.

3. Our strategy demonstrated a model for how our vision could be achieved in a ten-year period. To ensure there are sufficient numbers of professionals trained in Auditory Verbal therapy across the whole of the UK to support the enduring number of c7,200 deaf children under the age of 5, whilst supporting some 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 2024/25 and those who have also pledged multi-year grants to support our work as we work towards achieving these income levels.

4. Every practitioner that we train in Auditory Verbal practice and every family that we support with our high-quality 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 2024/2025, as well as increasing our reach and influence in the UK and around the world.

5. During this year we have also looked at what is working well in the provision of our services, as well as what can be improved or strengthen further, and looked at the steps we can take to enable more practitioners to train in Auditory Verbal therapy whilst continuing to provide high-quality services to families. We will continue this work in 2025/26 and set out further plans towards achieving our vision with a refreshed strategic plan in 2026.

6. We would like to thank 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.

7. We take a strategic programmatic approach to delivering our aims and our strategic programme is made up of four pillars 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.

OUR FAMILY PROGRAMME TO SUPPORT DEAF CHILDREN

1. We are proud to have supported 178 families this year. We have delivered a high-quality Auditory Verbal therapy programme to a total of 92 families this year on our regular caseload and supported a further 86 families through initial enquiries, appointments, and ad hoc sessions.

2. Families have continued to be affected by rising living costs 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 during the year. As of July 2025, 39 families on our regular caseload are receiving meanstested bursaries. 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.

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1. 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, Glasgow or Bicester), 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 we can consistently deliver effective therapy sessions to families whichever model they choose.

2. 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 2025, we sent the survey to 70 families and received a response from 22, giving a response rate of 31%. This represents a similar response level in comparison to last year and is more than double the typical response rate for an external survey (https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/blog/what-is-a-good-survey-response-rate; accessed 10 Sept 2025).

3. Responses to the annual family survey have continued to remain very positive. 100% of parents responded to say that their sessions were either effective or highly effective. With regards to the additional family services available, 72% of parents/carers responded that they were either satisfied or very satisfied with their Family Support meetings and 76% 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 reported feeling confident or very confident to practice Auditory Verbal strategies at home.

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

“It has made an absolutely vital difference. I don’t know where we’d be without it.”

“It has made me aware of how to get conversations moving and how to involve my child orally and verbally in regular settings. This has made a difference to our whole family, and I can’t believe how much I am learning from my therapist at every session”

“Coming into contact with AVUK has been one of the best things that ever happened to our family, and I am forever grateful for your support”

“It’s not just the practical advice the therapist gives but also the real concern and understanding they have for my child’s wellbeing and development and also our own journey individually and together as a family. The sensitivity and encouragement to us has been outstanding.”

“We absolutely loved the parents' online course we did. The support to parents has been amazing and we couldn’t have survived 2024 without it.”

“I am so lucky that AVUK has a bursary facility as I would not be able to afford the programme on my own. My child has reached an amazing communication level which without AVUK would not have been possible.”

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 family events dispersed across the UK. Families also noted additional services within schools would be supportive as well as suggesting an AVUK hub or app, where recorded sessions, take home notes and resources could be accessed in one place. This is currently in a trial phase.

2. Our dedicated Family Support team have delivered parent only sessions, family events, and developed peer-to-peer and advocacy platforms, The team have helped families navigate the Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) process, and supported their access to other relevant services and access to financial assistance.

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1. This year we have continued to deliver the ‘Nurturing Programme’ parenting course, thanks to funding from the National Deaf Children’s Society. The 10-week programme aims to improve the emotional health of both adults and children and strengthens family relationships. It is a cognitive-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 five cohorts on this programme with over 40 families taking part. The impact of the programme has been statistically significant. Families that have accessed the programme have overwhelmingly found it to be positive and useful. A published report on The Nurturing Programme showed significant impact on parental wellbeing. The report can be accessed at the NDCS website: Emotional wellbeing and social care support.

2. In 2024 we hosted two family days. 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 subsequent events.

3. We continued to run the 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 Auditory Verbal (AV) therapy and the programme at AVUK.

OUR TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

1. Since its launch in 2012/13, our training programme in Auditory Verbal practice has supported over 350 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 4 professionals (UK based) achieving their Listening and Spoken Language Specialist Certified Auditory Verbal Therapist (LSLS Cert AVT) qualification having successfully completed their Foundation and Advanced courses; invested in the 900 practicum hours, 20 mentored hours, 10 observational hours and 80 continued educational credits of theoretical knowledge across 9 domains and passed the international examination required to achieve their qualification. As of, end of July 2025, there are currently 35 LSLS Cert AVT/Educators in the UK. Nine work at AVUK, 17 work in the public sector and 9 work independently.

3. In 2024/25, we delivered training to a total of 14 Foundation cohorts, 12 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.

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

“I just wanted to say how good I have found the foundation AVUK course so far! It’s been really interesting and I’m finding so much of the content I can use in my practice right away, which is so helpful.”

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“This training wasn’t just theoretical—it was incredibly practical and reflective. I worked closely with experienced Auditory Verbal Therapists, observing and delivering therapy sessions, and learning how to coach and empower parents to become their child’s primary language facilitators. Through case studies, mentoring, and structured feedback, I developed a deep understanding of how to tailor therapy to each child’s unique hearing profile, family background, and developmental needs.”

“Now that I’ve completed the foundation course in AV therapy, I feel both excited and motivated to take the next step into the advanced stage of training. My goal moving forward is to deepen my clinical expertise so I can deliver truly impactful, evidence-based AV therapy that feels dynamic, reflective, and deeply responsive to each child and family I work with.”

1. We are proud that 27 professionals, 6 from across the UK, have continued to make progress on their Advanced training in 2024/25. Two of the cohorts completed the ‘course’ element of their advanced training within the year. We have received very positive feedback from cohorts attending the Advanced course.

“The regular podcasts give detailed information about child development; audiology; strategies for teaching children and coaching parents. The fortnightly webinars provide close supervision of my practice, allowing me to learn in a supportive environment with feedback from an experienced AVUK therapist and from other people following the course [...] The opportunity to discuss the needs of these children with an AVUK therapist and to review the children’s progress has been invaluable. AVT has made a huge impression on me, and I now view it as the best thing I've ever done in my career. I just wish I'd done it years ago...”

“I enjoyed the webinars with participants from around the world and our mentor Susie. We discussed our learning as well as children on our caseloads. The topics covered in the podcasts were all extremely useful and the knowledge gained has made me a more effective Teacher of the Deaf. I was surprised by how quickly some children progressed with developing their listening and spoken language skills once the parents were using the strategies consistently. It was wonderful to see parents’ confidence increase and become advocates for their child at meetings and appointments.”

1. In addition, 6 UK professionals are expected to successfully certify next year (2025/26) 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-to-peer 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 2026. 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 nine in-service training events in collaboration with different local services, including: Sensory Services in Leicester City, Eastbourne, Suffolk, Southwark, Surrey, and Swindon; Percy Shurmer Academy in Birmingham; Mary Hare Preschool; and the Oxford Cochlear Implant Programme. We continue to engage with professionals across the UK through our monthly online short courses and AV Taster sessions, as well as Introduction to AV training days in Glasgow, Cardiff and twice in London.

4. To further build the workforce of the future this year we have maintained our existing relationships with Birmingham City University by hosting 10 of the Speech and Language Therapy Students at our London centre for a day. The aim of this day was to provide information to students about the option of developing listening and spoken language in deaf children and to inspire the next generation of speech and language therapists to have high expectations for deaf children. We have also delivered our annual lecture with audiology students at UCL on the functional listening evaluation through Auditory Verbal strategies.

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OUR ENGAGEMENT WORK

1. Our ‘Hear Us Now’ campaign has continued to gain strength and momentum amongst decision makers across the UK, 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. Our campaign has focused on our key asks of public investment for the training of sufficient numbers of professionals across the UK and national guidance for local services on providing Auditory Verbal therapy.

2. We have been pleased to secure the support of cross-party MPs through events and engagement, culminating in a Westminster Hall Debate on increasing access to Auditory Verbal therapy in January 2025. Sponsored and led by Sharon Hodgson MP, the debate saw MPs directly ask the government, represented by Department of Health and Social Care Minister, Stephen Kinnock, to support the upskilling of a small proportion of professionals in the Auditory Verbal therapy approach so that many more families could benefit.

3. Following the debate, we met Minister Kinnock, alongside AVUK graduate, Sam Callaghan and his mum Jo, at the Department of Health and Social Care in March 2025 to discuss the key steps that need to be taken to enable more deaf children to access Auditory Verbal therapy. The Department made a firm commitment to explore national guidance on the provision of Auditory Verbal therapy.

4. Our engagement work has also seen us work with other organisations and charities on the need for deaf children to have access to early and effective support to develop language and communication, whether families wish to use spoken language, sign language or both. And we have continued to challenge outdated perceptions and assumptions of what deaf children can do and achieve. We want to thank the children and parents/caregivers we have worked with who have contributed to supporting our campaign in so many ways, taking time to travel and share their personal stories with decision makers.

5. We have collaborated with groups and coalitions, including the NHS England Stakeholder Group, CYP Health Policy Influencing Group (HPIG), and with organisations supporting deaf children across the sector including the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, British Association of Teachers of the Deaf, British Deaf Association and the National Deaf Children’s Society.

UK-wide and England

1. We welcomed Minister Stephen Morgan from the Department for Education to our London centre in October 2024 to meet families who have benefited from Auditory Verbal therapy and take part in a therapy session. We have also engaged with officials at the Cabinet Office’s Disability Unit and contributed to the Kingdon Review of children's hearing services launched in May 2025.

2. In October 2024 we hosted an event in Parliament for MPs celebrating Loud Shirt Day which saw crossparty MPs, including many newly elected MPs, show their support for our Hear Us Now campaign, including Health Minister Wes Streeting and Shadow Health Minister Victoria Atkins. MPs were able to speak directly to Sade, Topaz, and Sam, who were all born deaf and learned to listen and speak with Auditory Verbal therapy. The event was kindly sponsored by Sharon Hodgson and Jen Craft MP.

3. In line with our strategy to increase access to Auditory Verbal therapy for deaf children, we have also had positive engagement with several Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and NHS Trusts on increasing the numbers of professionals within local services training in the Auditory Verbal approach.

4. We have been proud to contribute and share insights to many consultations and calls for evidence over the year, including meeting with Dr Camila Kingdon as part of the Kingdon review of children’s hearing services (paediatric audiology).

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Northern Ireland

1. We have been working in partnership with the five Health and Social Care Trusts and the Education Authority in Northern Ireland to address inequality of access to Auditory Verbal (AV) therapy. This collaboration takes a service-wide approach, supporting professionals in speech and language therapy teams and teachers of the deaf in the education service to develop their skills in Auditory Verbal therapy. Feedback from those who have recently completed their foundation course has been very positive and we look forward to further work with the service leads in 2025 to develop this strategic approach to enabling increased access to AV therapy for families.

2. We met with Junior Ministers Reilly and Cameron at Stormont in September 2024 to discuss how we can ensure all deaf children in Northern Ireland can have the opportunities to access Auditory Verbal therapy via publicly funded services.

3. Junior Minister Cameron also joined us at an event with the Children Commissioner where they met deaf children, Aurora, Noah, and Katie, and their families, who have benefited from Auditory Verbal therapy to hear their first-hand experiences and discuss how we can ensure more professionals are training in the approach to increase access to the support. We were delighted that the first certified Auditory Verbal Therapist in Northern Ireland, Rosie Gardner, joined this event to share her professional experience and expertise.

4. Strong engagement with Members of the Legislative Assembly has continued with meetings and mentions of our work in the Assembly Chamber and we were pleased to have the opportunity to present to the Education Committee on increasing access to Auditory Verbal therapy.

5. We have also engaged with both the Health and Education Departments, including meeting with the Education Minister, and in July 2025 we met with the Chief Allied Health Professional to discuss training in the Auditory Verbal therapy approach and next steps to ensure there are sufficient numbers of professionals developing their skills in the approach, to enable equality of access.

Scotland

1. 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 contributed to the Cross-Party Group on Deafness who have continued to push the Scottish Government on this.

2. We were pleased to meet with Minister Jenni Minto in October 2024 to discuss increasing access to Auditory Verbal therapy and the need to invest in the training of professionals in Scotland.

Wales

1. In Wales we are proud to be members of the Cross-Party Group on Deaf Issues and presented to the group on the campaign to increase access to Auditory Verbal therapy for those families who want their child to learn to listen and talk. We have also continued to support, where we can, the campaign around the British Sign Language (BSL) Bill.

RESEARCH AND EVIDENCE: DEMONSTRATING WHAT WORKS

1. In July 2025, we published our Auditory Verbal therapy – research and evidence paper on our website: This paper replaced the previous position paper published in November 2023 and focuses specifically on recent contributions to the evidence base for the Auditory Verbal approach. It 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.

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

• September 2024 AG Bell Global Matters professional conversations on Parent-Choice

• September 2024 MedEl (CI manufacturer) Family Meet up day (Reading)

• November 2024 Rehabilitation Conference on Hearing Impairment (Manchester)

• March 2025 University College London (UCL) Audiology Masters lecture

• Feb/March 2025 ONafhankelijk Informatiecentrum over Cochleaire Implantatie (ONICI) (Belgium)

• March 2025 British Association of Teachers of the Deaf (BATOD)

• March 2025 Early Years in Mind Conference

• March 2025 Early Words Matter Conference

• March 2025 Leeds local offer event for families

• April 2025 British Cochlear Implant Group (BCIG) Conference

• April 2025 Berlin AVT Symposium

• April 2025 Mary Hare Clinical Excellence Network

• May 2025 Voice Conference

• May 2025 South African CI Group (SACIG) Conference

• May 2025 Advancing Health Care Awards

• May 2025 South East Clinical Excellence Network (RCSLT)

• June 2025 Cochlear Implant International Community of Action (CIICA) Conversation: influencing government & decision makers to improve cochlear implant provision and support across the lifespan

• June 2025 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 several 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.

COMMUNICATIONS: 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 and understanding of 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.

2. In May 2025, 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. Only a third (33%) of UK adults believe it is possible for a child born profoundly deaf today to learn to speak as well as a child without hearing loss. It also showed 83% of UK adults believe Auditory Verbal therapy should be available to all deaf children via publicly funded services (i.e., the National Health Service), while only 2% think it should be paid for privately.

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Increasing coverage in national and local media

1. This year we saw an increase of 45% in broadcast news pieces on prime-time regional television news bulletins with deaf children and young people who are graduates of AVUK sharing their hearing journeys on BBC Southeast, ITV Meridian, BBC Points West and ITV West Country, as well as pieces on BBC Online and ITVX, alongside wide regional coverage in the Belfast Telegraph.

2. We also achieved key sector coverage in Nursery World, National Health Executive Magazine, and Special Needs Jungle.

Digital channels

1. We continue to grow our digital channels, with this year seeing a 20% increase in newsletter subscribers; engagement across all social channels was up by 9%; and followers increased across all social media channels up by 16% - all exceeding the targets set in July 2024.

2. This increase can be partly attributed to our commitment to producing and sharing high-quality content. Alongside engaging videos featuring children, families, and professionals, we've also focused on reels with storytelling tips, partnerships with influencers including Tasha Ghouri answering questions from deaf children on BBC’s One Show and Instagram, as well as Q&A posts, with a strong emphasis on content tailored for Deaf Awareness Week and World Hearing Day.

3. Unfortunately, we’ve seen a 27% decrease in web visits compared to the previous year (106,181 vs. 145,700). This decline is likely due to changes in audience behaviour, reduced visibility in search engines, fewer referral visits from partner websites and shifts in campaign strategy and activity. Although not all of this is within our control, we’re taking steps to address the decreased web visits and we’re currently in discussions with our website provider about how we can strengthen our search engine optimization strategy to help improve visibility and drive more traffic to the site.

Claire Campbell Outstanding Achievement Awards

1. After the success of the inaugural Outstanding Achievement Awards, in memory of Claire Campbell, a committed ambassador of Auditory Verbal UK, and former Chair of Trustees, the awards were held for the second year in 2024. They recognised the achievements of deaf children, young people and the adults that support them, who, like Claire, have gone above and beyond to support deaf children to achieve their potential. The awards were launched in July and winners announced in November 2024: 12-year-old, Sanemi Parashar, and joint adult winners, Tricia Kemp and Susan Brownson.

2. With such a fantastic range of nominations for both the young person and adult categories and a strong shortlist; highly commended awards were also made to 12-year-old Louis Moss and Gaea Thompson, Teaching Assistant for the Deaf from East Sussex. Claire’s husband, Chris said: “As a family we are thrilled to have presented the awards to such fantastic recipients. The entries surpassed our expectations, and it was incredibly emotional reading about so many truly outstanding achievements from those challenging expectations of what deaf children and young people can achieve as well as the adults who have gone above and beyond to support these young people. The three winners and two highly commended recipients embody everything that Claire represented as a champion for deaf children and to celebrate with them was absolutely wonderful.”

OPERATIONS: 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.

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We have been working on our infrastructure to enable our people to be effective and efficient, and increasing our use of AI tools. 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 met regularly until March 2025, with the involvement of the CEO, to review, progress and take forward new tasks. The group developed an EDI Action Plan with endorsement from Trustees, and a staff working group with representation from each AVUK team took forward actions and made recommendations to the steering group. The staff member coordinating the EDI steering group left the organisation in March, so group meetings were paused. However, regular meetings are due to restart in 25/26 while the EDI work continues within teams.

2. The Trustee Board continues to consider its own EDI position in terms of trustee skills and lived experience. The Trustee Board has an EDI trustee level lead and has a standing six-monthly EDI agenda item to review and challenge AVUK’s progress in this sphere and has championed the EDI programme. We have continued to focus on five key areas:

3. 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. There has also been a quarterly review of AVUK’s website and other communication channels to ensure consistency of language used in all our content.

4. Resources – We continue to ensure our resources provide a wide representation of different ethnicities, abilities, religions, and sexual orientation. We conduct annual 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 therapy sessions.

5. 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 channels 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.

6. 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.

7. Lived Experience – We have 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 received with positive participation by the whole team. We also aim to provide regular opportunities for staff and trustees to learn about the rich diversity of deafness directly from a range of individuals, gaining insight into different lived experiences around deafness and other protected characteristics.

8. We have sought feedback from parents in our annual Family survey on inclusion and diversity. We were very pleased that 91% of parents either strongly agreed or agreed that AVUK is an inclusive organisation, and 95% of our families felt AVUK to be an organisation that respects and celebrates diversity.

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

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AVUK and the Senior Management team. AVUK employed 30 people (20.26 FTE) as of July 2025 across Service Delivery, Fundraising, Communications and Engagement, and Operations.

1. AVUK strives to foster a psychologically safe work environment where all staff feel confident to speak up, share ideas and thoughts and be themselves – contributing to a culture of trust, inclusion, connection, respect and continuous learning and improvement – all working together with pride and purpose to achieve our mission.

2. A bi-monthly Pulse Survey tracks anonymised 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 and provide suggestions via an online suggestions box.

3. 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 2.4 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.

4. 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. We brought all our staff together in person in January 2025 and hold bimonthly team meetings across the organisation online.

Recruitment

1. In 2024/25 we welcomed a new Head of Fundraising, increased the hours of family support available and successfully recruited to the new post of CRM Manager. We said goodbye to two of our clinicians, our Policy & Engagement Manager and our Communications & Engagement Officer. We would like to thank them for their service and commitment to the organisation and wish them well in their new roles.

2. We continued to benefit from the Whitehall and Industry Group’s Charity Next programme and over the year hosted three secondees from the Civil Service Fast Stream for six-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.

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Developing the Board of Trustees

1. The Board is committed to reviewing and developing itself and reviewing its skills, expertise and representation and we have improved coordination between the subcommittee chairs and alignment into Board meetings. This year we said goodbye to our Treasurer, Paul Clifford, who retired from the board after a maximum of 9 years of dedicated service to us, and to Jonathan Pepper, who will continue to support us in a voluntary advisory capacity. We welcomed Duncan King as a new trustee and Treasurer, and Aileen Thompson was appointed as Vice Chair.

2. Trustees have also held two strategy days in addition to our regular Board meetings during the year and undertaken updated safeguarding training.

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. We continue to take an active lead in the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists working group looking at the competencies framework and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for Speech and Language Therapists specialising in deafness. 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 AG Bell Academy. We are 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 and accelerated by the hiring of a dedicated, full-time CRM Manager and we have looked at how we further manage and reduce our cyber security risks by upskilling the staff team and discussing further potential actions with the Board.

2. The Charity relinquished its lease with CAN Mezzanine relating to occupancy at their Bermondsey premises and relocated to The King’s Fund in central London. The serviced accommodation offers good facilities for staff and families with excellent transport links, at reduced cost.

3. Having secured premises to offer clinics in Leeds and Glasgow, the Charity has further developed these sites and attracted significant service user interest.

Our funding

1. We are very grateful to all our supporters who have enabled our work to continue this year, especially those who have partnered with us over several years. This continued support is invaluable. Special thanks to the members of our Fundraising Advisory Board who give their time voluntarily to support the funding of our work. While the overall situation of funding in the charity sector has continued to be challenging during the year, we have been pleased to maintain existing funding relationships and engage new partners.

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Fundraising activities

1. Our fundraising team make applications for funding, organise events, and carry out fundraising activities to generate income for the Charity. 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.

3. In November 2024, we held our annual Sounds of Success: Honouring Deaf Children’s Achievements event at Man Group in London. The evening celebrated deaf children and recognised individuals who have gone above and beyond to support them, through the Claire Campbell Outstanding Achievements Awards. The event brought together families, supporters, partners, and AVUK ambassadors, and featured powerful speeches, networking opportunities, and moving stories that showcased the impact of our work.

4. In March 2025, we launched an exciting new partnership with Deafmetal, a brand that creates inclusive and stylish jewellery for hearing aid and cochlear implant users. Together, we ran a jewellery design competition with young people, celebrating creativity and deaf identity. The winning designs were brought to life and are being sold on the Deafmetal website to raise awareness and funds for our work.

5. In June 2025 we launched our first ever summer appeal. This marked an important step in developing AVUK’s individual giving programme. Centred around the story of Eliana, a recent graduate of our family programme, the campaign engaged supporters with powerful storytelling and encouraged donations to help more deaf children access vital early support. We gained meaningful learnings that will help strengthen our future campaigns.

6. In October 2024, we were fortunate to be supported by Ballymore, who own The Brentford Project housing development in west London. Through the efforts and music connections of our wonderful supporters, Katie Brewer and Sonia Jones, two amazing fundraising events were hosted by Ballymore to celebrate the launch of a new events space in a renovated church at their new development. They sourced fabulous raffle prizes and both the live Westend musicals and jazz performers were a hit with the audiences, raising funds to enable more families to benefit.

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

2. 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.

3. We were pleased to work with our corporate partners including AlixPartners, Kintbury Capital and the Markerstudy Group, and are grateful to all the organisations and individuals who have given their time and offered space at their venues to host our events.

4. 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.

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

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1. Total income for the period amounted to £1,230,594. This compared to £2,295,053 in the previous year, which included an exceptional, one-off amount of £590,000 from the John Thompson estate, and additionally £343,000 from our main fundraising event, held every two years.

2. Unrestricted income amounted to £698,008 compared to £1,757,146 in 2023/24, with donations of £423,083 (£1,502,866 in 2023/24). Restricted income amounted to £532,586 compared to £537,907 in 2023/24 all from donations. Income from charitable activities increased to £274,167 from £253,009 in the previous year.

3. Expenditure amounted to £1,836,988 compared to £1,887,890 in 2023/24 split between £556,713 (£435,907 in 2023/24) of restricted and £1,280,275 (£1,451,983 in 2023/24) of unrestricted spending. An overall deficit of £606,394 compared to a surplus of £407,163 in the previous year was delivered comprising of a restricted deficit of £24,127 against a surplus of £102,000 in 2023/24 and an unrestricted deficit of £582,267 (surplus of £305,163 in 2023/24). This has resulted in a reduced restricted reserve of £250,648 compared to £274,775 last year and an unrestricted reserve in a liability position of £20,583 compared to a surplus of £561,684 in 2023/24.

4. The Trustees acknowledge the overdrawn unrestricted reserve implies restricted cash resources are being used to fund general expenditure as highlighted in note 16. To note that following the year end, the Wonder of Sound fundraising event in September 2025 generated £385,000 of unrestricted reserves and returned the unrestricted reserves level to a significant asset position. Additionally, a further £165,000 in unrestricted funds has since been received by way of charitable grant. The Trustees recognise the need to focus their fundraising to cover unrestricted expenditure to ensure free reserves are held in line with the Charity’s reserves policy.

5. Our priorities for 2025/26 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 at the end of the reporting year 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.	Implement a resilient pipeline subject to ongoing review and adjustment. Formulate a broad-based fundraising strategy centred on diversifying the fundraising portfolio and adopting inventive means of securing fnancial support, including the utilisation of digital platforms and original initiatives. Maintain appropriate staffng and resources within the fundraising team. Allocate increased focus and resources towards attracting funding from central and local government, devolved administrations, and private sector sources. Uphold rigorous cost control measures to guarantee value for money and ensure lasting fnancial stability.
Failure to deliver high-quality therapy to all families, in centre and face-to- face as required, and local to demand.	Continual review of capacity and utilisation to identify demand requirements matched against pipeline to ensure forward planning of resources. Continue with six monthly Quality Assurance protocol and monthly clinical meetings focusing on quality of therapy. Emphasis for continual improvement in practice for all therapists and AVUK wide therapy delivery. Continue with Annual Parent Survey to understand impact and areas for improvement.

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OUR PRIORITIES FOR 2025/26

1. The next year, 2025/26, marks an important moment for our organisation as we embark on a strategic refresh that builds on our successes, integrates key learnings, and positions us to scale our impact in supporting more deaf children to have the same opportunities in life as their hearing peers. Our refreshed strategy will drive the evolution of our high-quality and impactful services and the work to unlock the investment required to realise our long-term vision, as we ensure that every interaction reflects our values, expertise and strategic mission. As part of this process, we will update and further strengthen our business case and economic analysis to reflect enhancements to our training model, while aligning with the current political, economic, and sector landscape.

2. Whilst we refresh our pathway to achieving our vision, our ambition remains unchanged: to increase awareness, understanding and access to Auditory Verbal therapy. We aim to ensure sufficient numbers of practitioners are skilled in the AV approach and able to support families to achieve the outcomes we know are possible and are already being achieved in some parts of the UK and in other countries, including Denmark and Australia. We are clear: AV therapy, delivered by trained and skilled practitioners, should be available via publicly funded services to all families who want their deaf child to learn to listen and speak – regardless of income, location or background. We are proud to be championing the call, alongside others, that early and effective support to develop language and communication should be available to all deaf children, whether families wish to use spoken language, sign language or both.

3. Our strategic programme is made up of four pillars 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.

Our family programme: Supporting families now and in the future

1. We will continue to deliver a high-quality Auditory Verbal therapy programme and family support to families of deaf children across the UK who don’t currently have access to AV therapy via publicly funded services locally. This will be made possible thanks to our generous donors and funders who support our bursary scheme, which enables families who would otherwise be unable to access Auditory Verbal therapy and its life-changing outcomes—to participate in our programme.

2. In 2025/26 we will seek to ensure that we maintain a regular caseload of around 65 families at any one time. We will deliver our holistic family support and information through one-to-one sessions; signposting funding; peer to peer support; and tailored online events and courses, including The Nurturing Programme which continues to be highly sort after for families with deaf children. We will explore how we can work with key partners, including the National Deaf Children’s Society, to increase access to this programme which supports improved emotional well-being and family relationships.

3. To ensure that we continue to maintain excellent family services and support, we will again run our annual family survey in Spring 2026 and reflect on the results including comparing results to those from past years.

4. We will continue to increase awareness and understanding of Auditory Verbal therapy with our outreach, engagement and communication, utilising channels including social media and partnerships with other organisations. This will also be supported by providing free initial appointments for families interested in our AV programme.

5. Building on our commitment to excellence, we’ll continue to use the strengths-based quality assurance process to uphold the highest standards in supporting deaf children to develop listening and spoken language. Clinicians will benefit from a robust programme of professional development, including training, mentoring, and regular opportunities for reflection and growth. This investment in our team is central to sustaining the transformative outcomes our programme delivers for children and families. We aim to further streamline the administrative processes around our family programme to make them more

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efficient for therapists and our family support team, which in turn benefits the families we support. This will include maximising the investment of the CRM, which will result in improvements including datacapture processes for increased record accuracy and engagement.

Professionals’ training: Building the workforce

1. In 2025/26 we will deliver our internationally accredited foundation training to four existing cohorts and at least a further five new cohorts. Advanced training will be delivered to four existing cohorts and at least four new cohorts – and we will continue to support those professionals who have completed their advanced course to achieve LSLS certification.

2. Alongside continuing to deliver high-quality training to professionals across the UK, our training workstream will look at strengthening and expanding our training programme to increase the numbers of speech and language therapists, audiologists and teachers of the deaf equipped to deliver AV practice. We’ll work in close partnership with professionals to address known barriers—particularly those faced by public sector clinicians in accessing training—and will centre our approach on competencybased learning informed by the latest research, evidence, and best practice. This will help grow a skilled workforce capable of delivering transformative outcomes for deaf children across the UK.

3. In 2026, we aim to launch our new “Train the Trainer” programme to empower experienced professionals to mentor others in delivering Auditory Verbal therapy. By expanding mentoring capacity within the field, we’re helping to build a sustainable community of skilled practitioners equipped to deliver optimal listening and spoken language outcomes for deaf children.

4. We will continue to support the members of our Continued Mentorship Programme (CMP) to share best practice, develop their skills and build confidence as practitioners.

5. We will continue to explore further recognition and accreditation of AVUK’s training programme by UK organisations and relevant professional bodies and explore how we enhance the professional journey and experience of those training with us.

Engaging for change

1. Vital early support to develop language and communication – including Auditory Verbal therapy for those families who wish to use spoken language and BSL classes for those families who want to use sign language – remains a postcode lottery across the UK. And this needs to change. We look forward to collaborating further with the National Deaf Children's Society, British Deaf Association, and others to address this.

2. Our engagement focus remains on enabling equitable access to Auditory Verbal (AV) therapy across the UK for those families who want their deaf child to learn to listen and speak. This will be realised by unlocking public funding to train enough professionals in the AV therapy approach and securing national guidance for local services in providing AV therapy to families.

3. By engaging MPs, key government ministers, Department of Health and Social Care/NHS England, Integrated Care Boards and Health Trusts, alongside education services, across the UK, we will advocate for the mandation of AV therapy on the pathway for deaf children and funding to train a small proportion of the public sector workforce.

4. We will continue to prioritise the development of strategic partnerships with health and education teams across the UK, recognising that collaborative working is essential to expanding access to Auditory Verbal therapy for deaf children. By working closely with NHS Trusts, Integrated Care Boards and local authorities, we will equip more professionals with the skills and knowledge to deliver AV therapy within their own services. These partnerships not only strengthen the capacity of local teams but also provide

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further robust evidence of the successful implementation of AV therapy in diverse settings, helping to embed best practice and ensure that more families can benefit from high-quality, publicly funded support close to home.

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.

2. We will be focused on further demonstrating the outcomes from Auditory Verbal therapy and training in Auditory Verbal practice. We will renew our focus on securing a National Institute for Health and Care Research (Health and Care Service Delivery Research (HSDR)) grant and delivering further evidence on how we can scale up training in Auditory Verbal therapy to practitioners working with deaf children under the age of five.

3. We will continue to update the education outcomes for AVUK graduate children at KS1 (optional), and KS2 on an annual basis. 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 in line with our role as international affiliate of First Voice Consortium (2025 data for the 2025/26 Sound Outcomes Report). In addition, we are undertaking a seven-year audit (2018-2024) of children’s listening and spoken language outcomes and will publish results of analysis of our training data, including demonstrating the trajectories of learning for practitioners on our Advanced Course.

4. AVUK is also taking the lead among the First Voice Consortium to ensure that questions that probe the impact of our programme for families are included across all centres, allowing data for these questions to be pooled across centres. It is believed that this will add further weight to the evidence of effectiveness in addition to the outcomes measured for children.

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, carried out across the organisation in Breakfast Clubs and Whole Team Meetings.

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 by July 2026. We will increase our engagement with under-represented families (subject to funding bids) and review this engagement during 2026.

Our people

1. We want to nurture a culture where staff feel empowered, supported, and inspired. Wellbeing, professional development, and inclusive leadership at all levels of our organisation are central to our strategy, ensuring every member of our team can thrive and deliver their best in a positive and inclusive environment.

2. We will continue to deliver a well-being programme that fosters cross team working, supports flexibility, and reflects diversity of interests and implement suggestions from discussions across the organisation, where feasible and affordable.

3. We will continue to enable and support staff training using the excellent ShiftWorks platform from The King’s Fund and individual development plans. Training for support with CRM, IT platforms, and AI tools will be delivered to the whole team. All clinicians will also be supported in their CPD opportunities and training, subject to funding, benefitting the entire team.

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1. We will continue to seek the views of our staff team through a more detailed staff survey and updating our regular ’pulse survey’ to ensure timely, detailed, relevant, and anonymous data collection from staff. We will further invest in our infrastructure through our Salesforce CRM to maximise its benefits including (but not limited to): supporting fundraising activities, managing income and forecasting, creating improved dashboards and reports, strengthening audience engagement journeys, connecting training data with our learning management platform, and informing outreach activities.

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 complete an annual review of our Cyber Security Accreditation in 2026 and will undertake an IT review in early 2026 with support from the Fidelity Foundation.

3. AI is a tool we aim to integrate more into all areas of work to increase organisational efficiency. After completing an internal security review, we will embark on a Copilot trial, to be completed by the end of 2025.

4. We will explore and implement where applicable applications to support business and drive efficiencies, for example for leave management and the creation of an appointment system.

5. We will complete a review of our estates requirements and develop plans for implementation from 2026.

Our Funding

1. Our fundraising underpins our strategic programme to deliver our annual objectives and build for the future. We will aim to generate £1.5m of voluntary funding in 2025/26 by safeguarding and growing trusts and foundations income, alongside developing our corporate partnerships programme, and our relationships with individuals. This will sustain current operations and provide the foundations from which to deliver our aim of £2.1m year on year.

2. We will continue to benefit from the support of the Fundraising Advisory Board to enable 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. Through the 2025 Wonder of Sound event and our Winter Appeal, we will aim to not only raise funds but also maximise connections and relationships through ongoing stewardship and engagement and grow individual giving through partnerships with the Big Give and Media Trust.

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.

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

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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 23 December 2025

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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 2025 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 2025, 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.

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1. 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 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.

2. 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. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

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1. 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 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:

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

3. Reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance;

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

5. 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.

6. 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

23 December 2025

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STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

(INCLUDING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025

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	2025 2024 Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total £ £ £ £ £ £ 423,083 532,586 955,669 1,502,866 537,907 2,040,773 274,167 - 274,167 253,009 - 253,009 758 - 758 1,271 - 1,271
	698,008 532,586 1,230,594 1,757,146 537,907 2,295,053
	540,095 96,000 636,095 518,817 197,286 716,103 740,180 460,713 1,200,893 933,166 238,621 1,171,787
	1,280,275 556,713 1,836,988 1,451,983 435,907 1,887,890
	(582,267) (24,127) (606,394) 305,163 102,000 407,163 - - - (10,000) 10,000 -
	(582,267) (24,127) (606,394) 295,163 112,000 407,163 561,684 274,775 836,459 266,521 162,775 429,296
	(20,583) 250,648 230,065 561,684 274,775 836,459

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 30 to 39 form part of these financial statements

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BALANCE SHEET AT 31 JULY 2025

		31 July 2025	31 July 2024
	Note	£	£
Fixed assets
Tangible assets	10	13,693	22,164
Current Assets
Stocks		1,100	1,100
Debtors	11	515,008	690,070
Cash at bank and in hand		133,821	302,772
		649,929	993,942
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year	12	(433,557)	(179,647)
Net current assets		216,372	814,295
Net assets		230,065	836,459
Charity funds
Unrestricted reserves	13	(20,583)	561,684
Restricted funds	14	250,648	274,775
		230,065	836,459

These financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Board on 23 December 2025.

• Jane Barry Chair of Trustees

Company Number 04569764 (England and Wales)

The notes on pages 30 to 39 form part of these financial statements.

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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 2024 Cash and cash equivalents at 31 July 2025	Year ended 31 July 2025 Year ended 31 July 2024 £ £ (163,766) (13,327) (5,943) (4,851) 758 1,271
	(5,185) (3,580)
	(168,951) (16,907) 302,772 319,679
	133,821 302,772

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NOTES FORMING PART OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 JULY 2025

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 wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the C harity. 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 the 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 obligation

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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

INCOME FROM DONATIONS
	Unrestricted	Restricted	2025 Total	2024 Total
	£	£	£	£
AB David Charity	-	-	-	2,000
Anonymous	-	-	-	114,037
Anonymous grant	-	-	-	80,586
AlixPartners	12,800	-	12,800	-
Blueberry Wellbeing	-	-	-	15,000
D&B Blood	-	-	-	10,000
Ballymore Group	7,221	-	7,221	-
Brightside insurance	12,089	-	12,089	17,671
Chear Limited	2,000	-	2,000
City Bridge Trust	-	56,941	56,941	-
Cochlear Foundation Ltd	-	-	-	9,907
Emerton Christie	2,000		2,000
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation	-	-	-	100,000
Garfield Weston Foundation	-	75,000	75,000	75,000
Goldman Sachs Gives UK	3,000	-	3,000	20,000
HMRC gift aid	-	-	-	20,267
Hodge Foundation	-	-	-	10,000
JC Foundation	-	-	-	24,000
Kintbury Capital	10,000	-	10,000	10,000
Lodge Capital Ltd	-	-	-	20,000
Louis Nicholas Residuary Charitable Trust	-	-	-	5,000
M&H Farrer	-	-	-	6,000
Man Charitable Trust	-	50,000	50,000	50,000
Marguerite Foundation	165,000	-	165,000	150,000
Mount Street Printers	-	-		2,000
Inchcape Foundation	1,000	-	1,000	1,000
National Lottery Community Fund		19,250	19,250
New Inspiration	-	-		5,300
Ovingdean Hall Foundation	-	10,425	10,425
Paul Lewis legacy	7,000	-	7,000
Pembridge Hall	7,000		7,000	10,000
PF Charitable Trust	3,000		3,000
Ramgarhia Sabha Trust	-	-		2,532
Rathbone Investment Management	4,000	-	4,000	5,000
Richer Sounds Foundation	-	15,000	15,000	-
Simon Haslam	-	-		6,500
Sohn Foundation	15,000	-	15,000	-
Souter Charitable Trust	2,500	-	2,500	-
Susanna Peake Charitable Trust	-	-	-	10,000

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2 INCOME FROM DONATIONS Unrestricted Restricted 2025 Total 2024 Total £ £ £ £ Taylor Steven - - 2,000 TFG Asset Management - - 30,000 The Considered Ask Foundation - - 24,725 The Grace Trust - - 1,500 The G F Eyre Charitable Trust 1,500 - 1,500 1,500 The Hargreaves Foundation - 29,970 29,970 - The Hospital Saturday fund 2,000 2,000 The Mercers’ Company 70,000 70,000 The Sobell Foundation - - 25,000 The Lovel Foundation 20,000 - 20,000 10,000 The Syncona Foundation 80,000 - 80,000 80,000 The Dorothy Hay-Bolton Charitable Trust 9,000 - 9,000 4,000 Tresidor Investment Management - 5,000 John Thompson Legacy - - - 590,279 The Welsh Pony and Cob Society 2,813 2,813 The Wonder of Sound Event - - - 48,000 UBS UK - - 12,000 ULF EK - - 25,000 Donations from individuals, community groups and small trusts below £1,000 54,160 206,000 260,160 399,969 423,083 532,586 955,669 2,040,773 3 INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES Unrestricted Restricted 2025 Total 2024 Total Sale of Books / CD's 133 133 194 Sessional Income 183,545 - 183,545 186,457 Training Income 12,314 - 12,314 65,808 Other Income 78,175 - 78,175 550 274,167 - 274,167 253,009 4 RAISING FUNDS Unrestricted Restricted 2025 Total 2024 Total Staff Costs 412,495 - 412,495 391,802 Other Costs 127,600 96,000 223,600 324,301 540,095 96,000 636,095 716,103	2 INCOME FROM DONATIONS Unrestricted Restricted 2025 Total 2024 Total £ £ £ £ Taylor Steven - - 2,000 TFG Asset Management - - 30,000 The Considered Ask Foundation - - 24,725 The Grace Trust - - 1,500 The G F Eyre Charitable Trust 1,500 - 1,500 1,500 The Hargreaves Foundation - 29,970 29,970 - The Hospital Saturday fund 2,000 2,000 The Mercers’ Company 70,000 70,000 The Sobell Foundation - - 25,000 The Lovel Foundation 20,000 - 20,000 10,000 The Syncona Foundation 80,000 - 80,000 80,000 The Dorothy Hay-Bolton Charitable Trust 9,000 - 9,000 4,000 Tresidor Investment Management - 5,000 John Thompson Legacy - - - 590,279 The Welsh Pony and Cob Society 2,813 2,813 The Wonder of Sound Event - - - 48,000 UBS UK - - 12,000 ULF EK - - 25,000 Donations from individuals, community groups and small trusts below £1,000 54,160 206,000 260,160 399,969 423,083 532,586 955,669 2,040,773 3 INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES Unrestricted Restricted 2025 Total 2024 Total Sale of Books / CD's 133 133 194 Sessional Income 183,545 - 183,545 186,457 Training Income 12,314 - 12,314 65,808 Other Income 78,175 - 78,175 550 274,167 - 274,167 253,009 4 RAISING FUNDS Unrestricted Restricted 2025 Total 2024 Total Staff Costs 412,495 - 412,495 391,802 Other Costs 127,600 96,000 223,600 324,301 540,095 96,000 636,095 716,103	Unrestricted Restricted 2025 Total 2024 Total £ £ £ £ - - 2,000 - - 30,000 - - 24,725 - - 1,500 1,500 - 1,500 1,500 - 29,970 29,970 - 2,000 2,000 70,000 70,000 - - 25,000 20,000 - 20,000 10,000 80,000 - 80,000 80,000 9,000 - 9,000 4,000 - 5,000 - - - 590,279 2,813 2,813 - - - 48,000 - - 12,000 - - 25,000 54,160 206,000 260,160 399,969 423,083 532,586 955,669 2,040,773
		274,167 - 274,167 253,009
		Unrestricted Restricted 2025 Total 2024 Total 412,495 - 412,495 391,802 127,600 96,000 223,600 324,301
		540,095 96,000 636,095 716,103

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5 CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Direct Costs: Staff Costs Other Direct Costs Bursaries provided Support Costs (note 6) Governance Costs (note 7) 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	Unrestricted Restricted 2025 Total 2024 Total 226,776 251,957 478,732 504,635 23,432 23,148 46,580 47,662 (189,862) 189,862 - - 507,814 160,747 668,561 614,210 7,020 - 7,020 5,280
	575,180 625,713 1,200,893 **1,171,787 **
	Unrestricted Restricted 2025 Total 2024 Total 353,837 70,290 424,127 370,209 13,248 - 13,248 22,273 6,285 6,285 3,274 6,168 - 6,168 5,051 72,027 - 72,027 47,271 24,609 80,457 105,066 124,242 1,878 - 1,878 1,661 2,008 - 2,008 940 654 - 654 397 20,408 - 20,408 20,223 2,933 - 2,933 2,573 10,638 - 10,638 14,351 2,945 - 2,945 1,595 176 - 176 150
	517,814 150,747 668,561 614,210

6 SUPPORT COSTS

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

7 GOVERNANCE COSTS

		Unrestricted	Restricted	2025 Total	2024 Total
	Auditors Remuneration	7,020	-	7,020	5,280
		7,020	-	7,020	5,280
8	EXPENDITURE
				2025	2024
				£	£
	Net income/(expenditure) is stated after charging:
	Depreciation of tangible fixed assets			14,414	18,836
	Operating lease rentals, including VAT			-	134,689

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

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during the period (2024: Nil). The total cost of employment of key management personnel was £155,946 (2024: £151,840). There were two employees with an annual salary in the £60,000 - £70,000 band (2024: two) on which pension contributions of £9,151 (2024: £8,509) were paid and two employees in the £70,000 - £80,000 band (2024: two) on which pension contributions of £14,452 (2024: £13,238) were paid.

The Charity pays attendance travel expenses and provides refreshments at Trustee meetings. Total cost was £nil (2024: £nil).

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

Raising funds Charitable activities/support	2025 Number 2025 FTE 2024 Number 2024 FTE 5 5 5 5 25 17 25 17
	30 22 30 22

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	2025 £ 2024 £ 1,106,115 1,074,304 126,283 110,511 82,956 81,831
	1,315,354 1,266,646
	412,495 391,802 902,859 874,844
	1,315,354 1,266,646

9 TAXATION

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

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10 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

Cost At 01 August 2024 Additions At 31 July 2025 Depreciation At 01 August 2024 Charge for the year At 31 July 2025 Written down value At 31 July 2025 At 31 July 2024	Training Equipment Office Equipment Leasehold Improvements Systems developments £ £ £ £ Total £ 27,632 145,318 11,094 56,526 240,570 - 5,943 - - -
	27,632 151,261 11,094 56,526 246,513
	27,632 137,898 11,094 41,782 218,406 - 5,811 - 8,603 14,414
	27,632 143,709 11,094 50,385 232,820
	- 7,552 - 6,141 13,693
	- 7,420 - 14,744 22,164

11 DEBTORS

DEBTORS
Rent deposit Trade debtors Sundry debtors Prepayments and accrued income	2025 £ 2024 £ 23,500 23,500 1,044 28,384 10,377 3,871 480,087 634,315
	515,008 690,070

Included in prepayments and accrued income is a legacy of £440,279.

12 CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
Trade creditors Accruals and deferred income* Other creditors	2025 £ 2024 £ 80,533 26,951 101,031 101,629 251,993 51,067
	433,557 179,647

*Deferred income represents training courses invoiced in advance net of bursary awards, totalling £50,424 (2024: £55,993) of which £30,659 (2024: £40,717) relates to the year ending 31 July 2026 and £19,765 (2024: £15,276) to future periods.

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13 UNRESTRICTED RESERVES

UNRESTRICTED RESERVES
At 01 August 2024 Net surplus/(deficit) for the period At 31 July 2025	£ 561,684 (582,267)
	(20,583)

14 RESTRICTED FUNDS

Blueberry Wellbeing Garfield Weston Foundation Esmée Fairbairn Foundation J Villon The City Bridge Trust Ovingdean Hall Moondance Foundation The Mercers’ Company The Hargreaves Foundation Richer Sounds Man Charitable Trust The National Lottery Community Fund Anonymous Donations	At 31 July 2024 £ Resources expended / transferred Incoming resources At 31 July 2025 £ 9,000 (9,000) - - 56,000 (68,500) 75,000 62,500 20,000 (20,000) - - - (96,000) 96,000 - - (28,471) 56,941 28,470 - 10,420 10,420 29,775 - - 29,775 - (70,000) 70,000 - - (7,487) 29,970 22,483 (10,000) 15,000 5,000 (50,000) 50,000 (19,250) 19,250 160,000 (178,000) 110,000 92,000
	274,775 (556,708) 532,581 250,648

Fund

Hodge Foundation John Horniman’s Children’s Trust

Kintbury Capital The Lovel Foundation

Moondance Foundation The Sobell Foundation The Hargreaves Foundation Esmée Fairbairn Foundation Blueberry Wellbeing Cochlear Foundation Garfield Weston Foundation J Villon

Purpose

Clinician’s salary Clinician’s salary

Family bursaries Family bursary and SI project research and salary of intern Family bursaries in Wales

Core costs Clinicians’ salaries and family bursaries Core costs and clinicians’ salaries Family bursaries Family bursaries Core costs and clinicians’ salaries Wonder of Sound event

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Restricted funds (prior year)

			Resources
	At 31 July 2023	Incoming	expended/	At 31 July 2024
	£	resources	transferred	£
Blueberry Wellbeing	-	15,000	(6,000)	9,000
Cochlear Foundation	-	9,907	(9,907)	-
Garfield Weston Foundation	-	75,000	(19,000)	56,000
Hodge Foundation	-	10,000	(10,000)	-
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation	-	100,000	(80,000)	20,000
J Villon	108,000	48,000	(156,000)	-
Louis Nicholas Residuary Charitable Trust	-	5,000	(5,000)	-
The Lovel Foundation	-	10,000	(10,000)	-
Moondance Foundation	29,775	-	-	29,775
The Sobell Foundation	-	25,000	(25,000)	-
The Hargreaves Foundation	25,000	-	(25,000)	-
Anonymous Donation	-	240,000	(80,000)	160,000
	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 Children’s Trust Clinician’s salary Kintbury Capital Family bursaries The Lovel Foundation Family bursary and SI project research and salary of intern Moondance Foundation Family bursaries in Wales The Sobell Foundation Core costs The Hargreaves Foundation Clinicians’ salaries and family bursaries Esmée Fairbairn Foundation Core costs and clinicians’ salaries Blueberry Wellbeing Family bursaries Cochlear Foundation Family bursaries Garfield Weston Foundation Core costs and clinicians’ salaries J Villon Wonder of Sound event

15 FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS

The Charity renewed the lease on its Oxfordshire premises for five years with a break clause after three years from 07 August 2022, terminating in January 2027, at an annual rent of £27,501.

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16 ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

	Unrestricted	Restricted	2025 Total
	Funds	Funds	£
Tangible fixed assets	13,693	-	13,693
Stock	1,100	-	1,100
Debtors	471,103	43,905	515,008
Bank and cash balances	(72,921)	206,743	133,821
Current creditors	(433,557)	-	(433,557)
	(20,582)	250,648	230,065
Prior year
	Unrestricted	Restricted	2024 Total
	Funds	Funds	£
Tangible fixed assets	22,164	-	22,164
Stock	1,100	-	1,100
Debtors	680,070	-	680,070
Bank and cash balances	37,997	274,775	312,772
Current creditors	(179,647)	-	(179,647)
	561,684	274,775	836,459

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	2025 £ 2024 £ (606,394) 407,163 (758) (1,271) 14,414 18,836 - 213 175,062 (450,811) 253,910025 12,543
	(163,766) (13,327)

18 RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

The Charity paid attendance travel expenses, a training course and provided refreshments at Trustee meetings. Total cost was £140 (2024: £nil) of which nothing was owed at 31 July 2025 (2024: £Nil).

The total of donations received from Trustees was £nil (2024: £nil).

Individuals related to the Trustees received services with a value of £nil (2024: £nil)

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OUR SUPPORTERS

AVUK is extremely grateful to everyone who has supported our work, whether through direct donations, encouraging others to get involved, or by giving their time and expertise.

We would like to thank our ambassadors, Voluntary Advisory Panel, Fundraising Advisory Board and all the families and professionals who have supported and championed our work throughout the year.

We’re especially grateful to our wonderful donors, including the teams at our corporate partners Markerstudy, Ortus Energy, Kintbury Capital, Kier and Ballymore, plus all of our amazing regular donors whose generosity makes everything we do possible.

Thank you.

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