# Cochlear Implanted Children’s Support Group 

Report and Financial Statements for the period 1* January 2020 to 31 December 2020 



COCHLEAR IMPLANTED CHILDREN’S SUPPORT GROUP 

, 

## Annual Report and Financial Statements for the period 1* January 2020 to 31* December 2020 

## Contents 

## Page No. 

- 1 Introduction 

- 2-6 Report of the Trustees 

- 7 Statement of Financial Activities 

- 8 Statement of Year End Assets and Liabilities 

- 9-11 Notes to the Financial Statements 12 Independent Examiner’s Report 



THE COCHLEAR IMPLANTED CHILDREN’S SUPPORT GROUP 

## Annual Report and Financial Statements for the period 1* January 2020 to 31* December 2020 

## The Trustees 

Mrs. A.P. Kemp (Chairperson) Mr. J.J. Foster Mr. H. Morgan Mrs. A. O'Donovan Ms. M. Ogwo Ms. D. Tuffs 

## Registered Office 

. 

P.O. Box 28843 London SW13 OWY 

## Charity registration number 

1097619 

## Independent Examiner 

M. Emanuel Chartered Accountants 5, Lexham Gardens Mews Kensington London W8 5JQ 

## Bankers 

CAF Bank Ltd. 25, Kings Hill Avenue Kings Hill West Malling Kent ME19 4JQ 

1 



## COCHLEAR IMPLANTED CHILDREN’S SUPPORT GROUP Report of the Trustees for the period 1* January 2020 to 31 December 2020 

The Trustees present their report and financial statements for the year ended 31° December 2020. 

## Results 

The statement of financial activities is set out on page 7 and shows the net income for the period. 

## Constitution 

The Cochlear Implanted Children’s Support Group is registered with the Charity Commission, registration number 1097619. Its affairs are governed by Declaration of Trust which restricts the use of the Charity’s income, such that it must be applied solely towards the objects of the Charity. 

## Tax status 

The Charity is exempt from corporation tax and income tax. 

## Principal objectives 

The principal objectives and activities of the Charity are as stated in the Trust Deed: 

‘The relief of need of children who are deaf or have hearing impairment, in particular those who have cochlear implants or are considering cochlear implants and their families, in particular but not exclusively by the provision of advice, support and sponsoring research projects which further this object; and to provide facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation and other leisure-time occupation with the object of improving the conditions of life for the said persons.’ 

## Review of the Activities of the Charit 

The pandemic severely affected the activities of the charity, and all the planned events for the year had to be cancelled. 

However, more families joined the group during 2020 than in any prior year. To keep them and existing members informed of developments in the fields of cochlear implantation and hearing impairment in general four editions of the Charity’s newsletter were produced and distributed during the year. It is the only national newsletter dedicated to families whose children either already have cochlear implants or are being assessed for the procedure, and during the year under review each edition contained a mixture of articles by professionals, parents, implant manufacturers and cochlear implant users of all ages. 

Feedback indicated that families found personal stories and articles by parents and young implant users to be inspirational, they enjoyed reading the latest news from implant manufacturers, and they valued the tips, advice and research topics covered in articles by professionals. The section celebrating the achievements of all levels of accomplishments by children and young adults who use cochlear implants including those with considerable additional difficulties, continued to be popular and October's edition featured a record number of achievement awards. The younger children were sent a specially designed certificate, the older ones a celebratory card, and all received a small gift voucher. 

2 



The Trustees believe that the newsletter is an important part of what the Charity can offer to families, and particularly in 2020 when the Group was not able to organise events due to the pandemic. They also believe there is great value in having a paper newsletter as it is left on coffee tables in homes for the whole family to see, on stands at Auditory Implant Centres where it will be seen by families whose children are being assessed for cochlear implantation, and on conference stands where it raises awareness of the Charity's aims and activities amongst professionals. The Trustees therefore intend to continue producing and distributing the newsletter in paper format rather than by email. Mindful of costs, however, the Group Coordinator liaises with the printers to ensure that any discounts available are utilised. 

The vast majority of the Charity's outgoing mail is franked using its franking machine which provides a discount of approximately 25% on standard postage rates. By using return address labels any newsletters that are undelivered are returned to the Charity, the addressee is contacted by email or telephone to obtain updated details but if there is no response the addressee is removed from the mailing list. This system also helps to keep the Charity's address records up to date. Those wishing to opt out of the Charity's postal communications, which is only the newsletter, can do so by email, telephone or writing. However, the newsletter continues to be popular and the Group Coordinator continues to receive requests from non-members to be added to the mailing list, in which case a small fee is requested to cover printing and postage. 

. 

To foster contact between CICS Group members the Charity hosts an invitation-only Facebook group which is only available for CICS Group parents whose children have actually received cochlear implants. The number and content of messages posted on it give testament to the value of this forum. Hosted and monitored by one ofthe[Charity's][Trustees][the][forum's][membership][increased] very considerably during 2020 and continues to be a resource for lively discussion, questions, responses and the sharing of information. A similar group for teenagers who are cochlear implant users and whose families belong to the CICS Group was set up in 2018 and is monitored by a CICS Group parent who is a secondary school teacher. The Trustees, whilst mindful of the dangers that may be associated with social media, are also aware of the great advantages in putting teenagers in touch with one another in a safe forum. To date, however, the forum has not attracted many members, probably because there are so many opportunities available to teenagers on Facebook which are not monitored. 

## Trusteesand Coordinators 

The six Trustees continued in their roles during the year under review. In addition to their role as Trustees, Tricia Kemp and Angela O'Donovan were the Southern and Midlands Regions Coordinators respectively. Vicky Gilbertson continued as the Northern Region Coordinator and Nicky Broekhuizen as the Scottish Region Coordinator. 

## Activities of the Trustees and Coordinators 

The regional Coordinators continued to pay a great deal of attention to keeping the Charity’s database of members up to date. Following a request for membership of the group, usually via the Charity's website, initial direct contact is made by telephone and prospective members have to respond to a standard GDPR compliance email before their membership is confirmed. If no response is received after three email reminders and a telephone call their details are removed from the Charity's system. The result is that not all families who apply to join do actually become members, and although Coordinators' time has been wasted on the process it is hoped that the caller benefited from the initial conversation. In order for the Charity to maintain its personal contact approach and keep full details of families and their children's cochlear implants the Trustees believe the membership process is robust, although it is regrettable that some families cannot join as they do not complete the GDPR compliance requirement. 

3 



, 

Day-to-day activities of the Trustees and Coordinators continued to include providing welcome packs to new members, dealing with telephone, written and e-mailed enquiries from members, non-members and professionals, preparing and distributing the Charity’s newsletter, monitoring the Charity’s email and Facebook page, liaising with cochlear implant manufacturers and with other groups involved with all aspects of hearing impairment, providing articles for various publications, and helping with relevant research projects. 

Unfortunately the charity was not able to organise any events during 2020 due to the pandemic. However, more work than was anticipated was involved in cancelling events. Deposits already paid by the charity were moved forward to be held against 2021 events. Deposits for events already paid to the charity were refunded, but in a few cases these were converted to donations. 

As a result of the pandemic and the reduction in workload associated with events Coordinators had more time to contact members by phone and email and undertook a major project to update as many of the members' records as possible. This coincided with a problem that occurred with the Group's outgoing emails whereby it transpired that when an email was sent to the whole group over 700 of these were not reaching the intended recipients. All of these were contacted by phone and in most cases it was necessary for them to re-subscribe to the Group's emails. 

## Workingwith other Groups 

In spite of difficult conditions, the Charity maintained its relationships with other organisations sharing an interest in cochlear implantation, kept abreast of their activities and, where appropriate, promoted these to the CICS Group members. In particular there are strong links with The Elizabeth Foundation, Auditory Verbal UK, the National Cochlear Implant Users’ Association (NCIUA), the Home Counties Cochlear Implant Group and The Ear Foundation, although sadly the latter went into liquidation in March, 2020. Whenever possible, one of the Trustees or Coordinators helped with any projects undertaken by these organisations during the year. 

During 2020 the Group Coordinator was able to attend the British Cochlear Implant Group's (BCIG) annual conference which took place two days before lockdown began. The European Association of Cochlear Implant Users (EURO-CIU) Annual General Meeting was held virtually. Both these events provided sources of interesting and up-to-date articles for the Charity's newsletters, and the BCIG conference also raised awareness of the CICS Group amongst professionals. 

The Charity is an associate member of the BCIG, and a member of UK Council on Deafness and of The Alliance which is campaigning to raise awareness of deafness generally. In addition, the Charity is a member of the EURO-CIU which campaigns for improved quality of life for cochlear implant users of all ages across Europe. The CICS Group Coordinator also represents the Charity on the Adult Cochlear Implant Action Group ('ACIAG’') which is campaigning to raise awareness of the benefits of cochlear implants and of the large number of adults who are suitable for, but not receiving cochlear implants. ACIAG is also lobbying for adult hearing screening, and for more research into bilateral implantation for adults. Having been heavily involved in the process of achieving the NICE guidance that recommended bilateral cochlear implantation for children, the CICS Group is keen to help bring about the availability of this procedure for adults and to relax the audiological threshold criteria for cochlear implantation to be in line with other European countries. 

The Trustees believe it is important for the Charity to support initiatives intended to widen the availability of cochlear implantation, secure funding for the continuation of the service and to maintain a high quality provision for cochlear implant users of all ages. The Trustees will continue to work with and support other charities, support groups and professionals who share these beliefs. 

The regional Coordinators have also undertaken literature reviews and helped in a number of research projects organising contact with members whose children met certain criteria sought by 

4 



researchers. The total number of requests received during the year was greater than in previous years and came from an ENT surgeon, several Speech and Language Therapists and PhD students. 

The CICS Group Coordinator was one of the co-authors of an article entitled 'Prevalence of cochlear implants in Europe: trend between 2010 and 2016' which was published in the prestigious 'Cochlear Implants International’ online in June, 2020, and in paper format in September, 2020. She continued as Vice Chair of the NCIUA, a Governor of a school for the Deaf, an associate member of the British Association of Teachers of the Deaf (BATOD) and wasa Trustee of The Ear Foundation until it went into liquidation in March, 2020. She also serves as the patient representative ona steering group considering the implementation of a National Registry of cochlear implants. Several meetings of the latter took place virtually and as a part of her role the CICS Group Coordinator was asked to conduct a major survey to ascertain the views of cochlear implant users and their families regarding the development ofthe Registry and to ascertain what information they would like it to include. Several groups were contacted and over 2,000 surveys were sent by email. The data was analysed and presented to the Steering Group. 

CICS Group Trustees and Coordinators take opportunities to keep up to date with developments in the wider field of cochlear implantation and to secure articles for the Charity’s newsletters. 

## Finance and Fundraising 

Due to the pandemic, an increasing number of high profile worthy appeals and to people having less disposable income, 2020 was a particularly challenging time for small charities dealing with low incidence disabilities to attract donations. It remains apparent that the most likely source of financial support for the Charity is from the members and their contacts. 

The Charity appealed to members to organise local events to celebrate International Cochlear Implant Day on 25th February and to use this as an opportunity not only to raise awareness of cochlear implants but also to fundraise for the Charity. As last year, the fundraising outcome of this initiative was disappointing, but several schools held Assemblies to raise awareness of cochlear implants which, of course, is one of the charity's aims. 

The Charity continued its annual ‘Voluntary Donations Month' scheme in April with an appeal to members to donate whatever they could afford and to seek out ways of raising money for the Charity. Avoiding having a membership fee prevents families from being excluded from the group due to financial hardship, and ensures a diverse membership. In addition, the Trustees consider that the administrative burden of introducing an annual membership fee would be too great, and prefer instead to encourage members to make a donation no matter how small, to organise events such as coffee mornings or to ask their local schools, clubs or businesses to adopt the CICS Group as their Charity. 

The Charity had a debenture block of thirty places in the British 10K London Run, which was cancelled due to the pandemic. This is the Charity's only major fundraising event so the cancellation was a considerable blow. The Debenture places are valid for a future year's event and the Trustees are hopeful that this will take place in 2021. 

Several CICS members who had signed up for the above event decided to run their own individual 10ks, and the Trustees are grateful to Jane Demain, Mike Gush, Andi Jepson, and Huw Morgan all of whom completed the challenge and raised money for the CICS Group. 

Colin and Jean Sutherland, grandparents of a young adult cochlear implant user, and loyal supporters of the Charity for over twenty years were not able to hold their annual garden party due to the pandemic but kindly organised an online 'no garden party' event which raised £1,000 for the Charity. 

5 



The Trustees are very grateful to Jane Foreman's family who kindly chose the CICS Group as the charity for donations in her memory. Jane sadly passed away in September, 2020. She had been a CICS Group member since 1997, helped at the Charity's events, was responsible for the initial creation and subsequent update of the Group's database toa later version of Microsoft Access, and is very greatly missed by all who knew her. 

Excluding other personal donations, notable amounts received during the year were £5,000 from Kintbury Capital, £2,000 from the Jusaca Charitable Trust, £1,000 from Matthews Wrightson Charity Trust, £1,000 from PIA Financial Group, £500 from the Drapers' Charitable Fund, and £500 from Ecclesiastical Insurance. 

Small amounts were received from a scheme that recycles ink cartridges, and from the Amazon Smile initiative. 

All donations, no matter how small were greatly appreciated and, in keeping with the general approach of the Charity, all were personally acknowledged. Wherever possible donors were encouraged to use the Gift Aid Scheme so that the tax on personal donations could be reclaimed thus increasing the value of those donations. 

As ever, the Trustees remain acutely aware of the vulnerability of the small Charity dealing with a low incidence disability operating in difficult times and competing with larger high-profile charities for funds. 

The Charity has no office premises or employees, but in order to maintain and improve the Group’s network and profile and indeed, as an integral part of the Charity's work, the Trustees deemed it necessary in this unusual and challenging year to use available funds to continue to provide a good quality newsletter with a greater amount of content than usual. Looking to the future, they will continue to be mindful of the expense involved in doing so and, as well as seeking new methods of fundraising, will continue to review ways of reducing costs. 

## Accounts Preparation 

The Trustees confirm that the accounts comply with current statutory requirements and with those of the governing instrument. 

Approved and signed on behalf of the Trustees on 18th October, 2021. 

cc, Keof Chairperson Mirs A. P. Kemp 

6 



COCHLEAR IMPLANTED CHILDREN’S SUPPORT GROUP 

## Statement of Financial Activities for the period 1* January 2020 to 31** December 2020 

||Receipts and Payments|Unrestricted Funds|Restricted Funds|Total|- 2020|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||£|£||£|
||Receipts|||||
||Donations and bequests|18,166||18,166||
||Donations - Gift Aid|3,488||3,488||
||Fundraising activities|14,084||14,084||
||Events and activities|809|||809|
||Family activityweekends||0||0|
||Alton Towers weekend||815||815|
||Chessington||142||142|
||Information Day||0||0|
||Investment income|1,567||1,567||
||Income Tax recoverable|1,311||1,341||
|.|Raffles|0|||0|
||Total Receipts|39,425|957|40,382||
||Payments|||||
||Postage|13,835||13,835||
||Printing and photocopying|20,782||20,782||
||Stationery|3,484||3,484||
||Telephone|260|||260|
||Office equipment maintenance|220|||220|
||Subscriptions|736|||736|
||Events and activities|433|||433|
||Family activity weekends||0||0|
||Alton Towers weekend||815||815|
||Chessington||142||142|
||Information Day||0||0|
||Fundraising activities|546|||546|
||Insurance|507|||507|
||Children's Achievement Awards|710|||710|
||Travel and conference attendance|676|||676|
||Bank charges|65|||65|
||Website and database management|83|||83|
||Leaflet design and promotion|860|||860|
||Purchase ofcomputer equipment|987|||987|
||Total Payments|44,184|957|45,141||
||Deficit|£(4,759)|0|£(4,759)||



P| 



COCHLEAR IMPLANTED CHILDREN’S SUPPORT GROUP 

## Statement of Assets and Liabilities at 31° December 2020 

, 

|||At 31.12.20|At 31.12.19|
|---|---|---|---|
|||£|£|
|Assets||||
|Debtors:|Income Tax Recoverable|dW be|1,246|
||Deposits paid forthe following year's events|2,300|2,294|
||Cash at Bank and on Deposit|143,611|142,367|
|||147,022|145,907|
|Liabilities||(5,874)|-|
|Net Assets||£141,148|£145,907|
|Funds||||
|Balance brought forward||145,907|137,692|
|(Deficit)/Surplus forthe year||(4,759)|8,215|
|Balancecarriedforward||£141,148|£145,907|



Approved and signed on behalf of the Trustees on 18th October, 2021. 

A. P. Kemp Chairperson 

MooPLe H. Morgan \ Trustee 

8 



COCHLEAR IMPLANTED CHILDREN’S SUPPORT GROUP 

## Notes to the Financial Statements for the period 1* January 2020 to 31 December 2020 

## Accounting Policies 

The Accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice “Accounting by Charities”. 

## Restricted and unrestricted funds 

Funds received by the charity that are earmarked either by donation or by the terms of the grant for particular projects are accounted for as restricted funds. All other funds are unrestricted. 

## Reserves Policy 

The Trustees deem it prudent to have sufficient reserves to enable the charity to carry out its objectives for the foreseeable future, and have deemed this to be approximately three years’ annual expenditure. The reserves are held in a general fund to enable the charity to meet all needs as defined by its Constitution. 

## Income 

Donations and income from fundraising activities are accounted for on a receipts basis. 

## Voluntary help and gifts in kind 

The charity benefits from many voluntary hours contributed by Trustees and supporters. From time to time the charity also benefits from the support of the implant manufacturers, professionals and other organisations. It would be impossible to place a value on all these gifts in kind for which the charity is extremely grateful and without which much of its work could not be undertaken. 

## Expenditure 

All expenditure is included in the statement of financial activities on a payments basis and has been classified under categories which most appropriately reflect the use of the resources. 

## Value Added Tax 

As the charity is unable to reclaim value added tax, all expenditure in these financial statements is shown inclusive of value added tax where appropriate. 

## Depreciation and Stock 

No depreciation is provided on office equipment, which is charged to the income and expenditure account in the period when purchased. The charity holds no stock. 

9 



COCHLEAR IMPLANTED CHILDREN’S SUPPORT GROUP 

## Notes to the Financial Statements for the period 1* January 2020 to 31 December 2020 (cont.) 

## 1) Income and Expenditure 

| 

|a)|Donations and bequests|Unrestricted Funds|
|---|---|---|
|||£|
||Advanced Bionics|2,600|
||PIA Financial Group|1,000|
||Drapers' Charitable Fund|500|
||Jusaca Charitable Trust|2,000|
||Kintbury Capital|5,000|
||Ecclesiastical|500|
||Matthews Wrightson CharityTrust|1,000|
||Individual donations and bequests of lessthan £500|5,566|
|||£18,166|
|b)|Fundraising Events||
||Proceeds ofsizeable fundraising events organised byand forthe charity||
||during 2020 included:|£|
||London 10k|2,037|
||100 Miles|534|
||41 Club Gibraltar|3,173|
||The Sutherland's No Train Day|1,000|
||Pilkington|2,240|
||Otheramounts of£500 or less|5,100|
|||£14,084|
|c)|Investment Income|£|
||Bank Interest|£1,567|
|d)|Direct Expenditure|£|
||Events (£433 - £809)|(376)|
||Alton Towers (£815 - £815)|0|
||Chessington (£142 - £142)|0|
||Children’s Achievement Awards|710|
||Telephone<br>- family contact|260|
||Printing, stationery and postage|38,101|
||Leaflet design and promotion|860|
|||£39,555|



10 



COCHLEAR IMPLANTED CHILDREN’S SUPPORT GROUP 

## Notes to the Financial Statements for the period 1* January 2020 to 31* December 2020 (cont.) 

**==> picture [203 x 15] intentionally omitted <==**

**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
1) Income and Expenditure (cont.)<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


**==> picture [461 x 122] intentionally omitted <==**

**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|e)|Management and|Administration|of Charity|£|
|Travel|and|conference|attendance|676|
|Subscriptions|736|
|Insurance|507|
|Bank|charges|65|
|Website|and|database|administration|83|
|Equipment|maintenance|220|
|Purchase|of computer|equipment|987|

**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


£3,274 

. 

## f) Trustees’ remuneration 

No trustees received any remuneration during the period but three Trustees were reimbursed expenses totalling £4,612.38 in respect of the administration costs of coordinating the four regions, attending and participating in specific physical and online conferences and making various purchases on behalf of the charity. This expenditure is allocated over various headings in the Statement of Financial Activities. 

**==> picture [480 x 111] intentionally omitted <==**

**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|2)|Assets|
|Cash|at|bank:|CAF|Current|Account|29,470|
|CAF|Deposit Account|TQ|
|Virgin|Charity|Deposit Account|20,806|
|Cambridge|and|Counties|Bank|86,118|
|£143,611|

**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


**==> picture [91 x 15] intentionally omitted <==**

**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
3) _ Liabilities<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


**==> picture [446 x 101] intentionally omitted <==**

**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
|||||
|---|---|---|---|
|Donations|for future|events|5,000|
|Bradley Stoke|95|
|Dukes|Barn|50|
|Alton|Towers|530|
|Chessington|199|
|£5,874|

**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


11 



COCHLEAR IMPLANTED CHILDREN'S SUPPORT GROUP 

# Independent Examiner’s Report on the Income and Expenditure Accounts for the period 1* January 2020 to 31° December 2020 

## Registered charity number: 1097619 

## Responsibilities 

Responsibilities | report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the and basis of Report above charity (‘the Trust’) for the year ended 31st December, 2020, as set out on pages 7 to 11. 

As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’). 

| report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, | have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. 

Independent Examiner’s __| have completed my examination. | confirm that no material matters Statement have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: 

- @ accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or 

- e the accounts do not accord with the accounting records 

| have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. 

## M. Emanuel, 

**==> picture [163 x 41] intentionally omitted <==**

**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
na<br>SIENEGSshasifaRtrrrsesvvasneesnaaeevecnsesee<br>ee<br>MS Emanuel<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


Date: 18th October, 2021 

Chartered Accountants, 5, Lexham Gardens Mews, Kensington,. London, Ws 5JQ. 

12