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← Deaf Active

2024-03-31-accounts

Report of the Trustees and Financial Statements for the

Financial Year ended 31[st] March 2024

Charity Registration Number 1129601

DEAF ACTIVE CONTENTS OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

CONTENTS Page
Contents 2
Charity Information 3
Report of the Trustees 4 - 20
Report of the Independent Examiner 21
Statement of Financial Activities
 22
Balance Sheet
 23
Notes to the Financial Statements 24 - 30

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DEAF ACTIVE CHARITY INFORMATION

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATION DETAILS

Charity Name Deaf Active

Registered Charity Number 1129601

Registered Office

The Joseph Lappin Centre Mill Lane Old Swan Liverpool L13 5TF

Trustees

Stacey Robinson (Chair) Hayley Thornton Anthony Rice

Senior Management Team

Thomas Maher (Joint Chief Executive) Katie Godfrey (Joint Chief Executive)

Bankers

NatWest Old Swan Branch 509 Prescot Road Liverpool L13 3BZ

Independent Examiner

Counting for Communities Ltd 16 Holmwood Drive Liverpool L37 1PQ

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DEAF ACTIVE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

The trustees present their report and the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the accounts and comply with The Charities Act 2011 and the ‘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 (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)’.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing Document

Deaf Active is a non-profit association and is controlled by its governing document, a written constitution adopted on 1 April 2008 as amended on 21 September 2012.

Organisational Structure

Deaf Active is a registered charity with The Charity Commission, Charity Number 1129601. It is managed by a Committee of trustees who regularly meet.

Risk Management

The Trustees have a duty to identify and review the risks to which the Charity is exposed and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurance against fraud and error. The Trustees are aware of the need to strengthen the committee and are looking to appoint new trustees.

PUBLIC BENEFIT

When planning and programming activities for the local residents the Trustees of Deaf Active are mindful of the Charity Commission’s guidelines on Public Benefit.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

The Objects of the charity are to advance in life and relieve the needs of deaf children, young people, children of deaf adults, hearing family members, friends and peers.

These objects are met through the provision of the following activities:

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DEAF ACTIVE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE

We helped Babies, children, young people and adults through our service

We worked with

28 Volunteers

Volunteers who donated

8560 hours

Support, promote and enhance their lives

To help us deliver our services

805 Children & Young People Accessed youth and play services

Taught sign language to over 3000 children and young people

We provided work placements for

18 people

Which contributed to over

4560 hours

4800

Accessed Deaf Awareness training, sign language courses.

874 Attendances for Active Fitness sessions

10,800

Accessed our online resources including social media, and website. Reaching 347,100 downloaded the 36,752

415,186

have accessed services of Deaf Active

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DEAF ACTIVE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT - CONTINUED FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Our Mission

We are here to make a positive difference to the people we support, promote and advance the lives of Deaf and Hearing people by providing innovative services that empower people to control their own lives.

Our specialist service areas include Play & Youth Service, Volunteering, British Sign Language Training and Coaching, Residential Activities, Language Coaching, Sports Coaching, Personal Training and Providing Health and Wellbeing activities. Our work is funded through fees from local authority contracts, grants, individual funders and fundraising activities.

Progress:

The objectives of the charity as set out in the Constitution are to Support, Promote and Enhance the Lives of Deaf and Hearing people.

The Trustees of and those therein employed with Deaf Active aim to reduce social and cultural isolation faced by deaf people and are committed to delivering high levels of participation by way of reversed integration and provide fully inclusive service provision throughout all its activities.

There has been a remarkable amount of progress this year. Deaf Active has persisted in maintaining close ties with the community to make sure that needs can be both identified and met. We kept offering children, youth, and parents/carers regular steering groups so they could directly contribute to the way our activities were carried out. In terms of the expected results, we have been able to significantly surpass our goals by providing our services. The group is still working very hard to enhance delivery from an operational and structural standpoint. To help us achieve our objectives and improve our results, we review, monitor, and evaluate continuously. We are very happy with the direction we are going.

Our partnerships with Merseyside Society for Deaf People and the Deafness Resource Centre remain strong, and we have a well-established line of communication between the three organisations. We also continue to work with the Liverpool City-wide youth consortium, who are always a huge supporter that allows our Deaf and hearing young people to have a voice within the council.

The team has been successful both professionally and personally this year and has ended the year with some amazing achievements. Several of the team members gained their level 2 and went on to achieve their level 3 youth work qualification. One team member gained the

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DEAF ACTIVE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT - CONTINUED FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

status of ‘Registered Sign Language Translator’ after completing a Level 6 BSL and translator’s course. Also, four members of staff are currently doing their Level 3 in Education and Training and 2 of these will achieve their assessor’s qualification. As a team, they have gone from strength to strength, continuously supporting each other along the way.

Over the past year, we have concentrated on delivering our services face to face and continue to move forward with our strategy and vision of our digital platform: These included;

• Continuing to deliver our great services and meeting the needs of the community, listening to what they want, holding steering groups and giving them the access and encourage them to have their say.

• Deaf Active placed applications for The Talent Fund, Asda Foundation and Awards for All. These funds will support our play and youth service and allowing us provide trips, and resources at the centre. Having additional funding for engaging activities allows us to provide activities that they would otherwise be unable to afford.

• Continue to build a business arm to help generate income to sustain our services so we are not solely reliable on funding.

• Offer ongoing training to our staff to ensure our service users receive consistently high-quality support.

• Identifying new partnerships and relationships that allow us to seek new contract work and new modes of working, in collaboration with other third sector organisations

• Investment in our primary coaching package in the education environment and also our pre-school Sign & Play model.

• Investment in our website and other digital platforms used.

• Generating more income enabling us to sustain the employment of the team of staff.

• Raising our profile and networking opportunities.

• Applications for small grants to support the play and youth service.

• Raising Deaf Awareness. Liaising with organisations to ensure they have an understanding of Deafness and how to ensure their services and organisation is accessible.

• Two staff members and some of our children and young people were chosen to participate in the performance for The Eurovision Song Contest that was hosted in Liverpool.

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DEAF ACTIVE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT - CONTINUED FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

• Fitness and wellbeing sessions are delivered throughout the week to support the community and give them access to fitness coaches and personal trainers for guidance. Wellbeing at Work: introducing at our workplace and encouraging other organisations to set aside 20 minutes each day for exercise or a wellbeing check in.

• From listening to our community they shared the want for more family events. Us along with the community planned and delivered community events throughout the year. These included: Family Sports Days, Football tournaments, Roller Discos, Festival,

• Supporting organisations to ensure they are accessible. Collaborating with Fuzzy Duck products to participate in resources for The Eureka Museum in relation to the body. We organised trips to take the young people so they could see themselves and their peers in the film.

• We continue to deliver our HANDS project, teaching sign language in schools, and we teach over 1200 primary aged children British Sign Language, and we remain overwhelmed with the amount of interest and demand this project attracts. These sessions have now returned to delivery at the schools and continues to be extremely successful.

• Employability and Training project is making such a positive impact on Deaf young people’s lives. Being able to access Deaf Active to train and improve their skill set is proven to be a huge success. These beneficiaries support the charities growth and opportunity to support more young people within the community. The young people from the Stepping Stones project are inspirational and fantastic role models for the younger generation.

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DEAF ACTIVE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT - CONTINUED FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Sign Language

With the announcement of the BSL Act being approved in 2022, our Sign Language sessions became even more popular this year. The ‘Hands’ team has worked hard throughout the school year to deliver BSL sessions to 1752 primary aged children, of which 900 early-year pupils. Not only are the schools eager to learn BSL, but they are also enthusiastic about how they can help break down communication barriers and strive to ensure that their schools are inclusive. From this project, we have had several teachers enrol on Deaf Active’s level 1 course, and some have even advanced as far as level 3.

There was also news from the Department of Education that BSL could potentially be a part of GCSE’s in the future. Deaf Active took this opportunity to contact local secondary schools and colleges to promote the possibility. The team then created an age-appropriate BSL course and delivered it to Belvedere Academy, Broughton Hall Catholic High School, King’s Leadership Academy, and Hugh Baird College. This was a huge success; many students commented that they wished it was part of their weekly curriculum. Teachers were also amazed at the amount of material that students learned during sessions and how enthusiastic they were about learning a new language.

Deaf Active continues to deliver accredited level 1, 2, and 3 courses in BSL over four evenings a week, with all courses are full to capacity and most having a waiting list. Over the years, Deaf Active has also delivered Deaf Awareness training to a variety of different organisations in different domains. With a growing interest from the young people in the youth club, Deaf Active proposed a structured BSL session weekly, and the young people were delighted. We had 10+ young people attend the sessions every week, and several have also enrolled on the BSL Level 1 course. Another success this year was Deaf Awareness Week. As always, Deaf Active took on the challenge of spreading Deaf Awareness far and wide. During this week we worked in partnership with local businesses, shops and supermarkets to provide Deaf Awareness sessions giving them the confidence to support any Deaf customers. This was very successful and resulted in many businesses wanting to book us to deliver full day workshops within their workplace. We continued to deliver our family events after last year’s success and along with the community planned a roller disco, giving families the opportunity to share experiences and meet other families alike. We also pushed on our social media campaign to promote Deaf Awareness.

Pride of Deaf Active

We hosted our second event at the Devonshire Hotel and had over 120 people attend. This event was through the Henry Smith Project and an opportunity to invite 30 organisations who will offer advice and guidance. This event was also the chance to celebrate the success of the young people and the distance they had travelled, the skills they have gained and highlight all their achievements.

The Hub:

Our online content continues to develop and the team from Stepping Stones create fantastic resources for those wanting to learn sign language and interact with fun activities and games. Our volunteers play a big part in this service and keep the Hub update with information and ensuring that Deaf people are having the same access as hearing peers.

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DEAF ACTIVE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT - CONTINUED FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Play & Youth Service

Overall, another fantastic year for the play and youth service at Deaf Active. Deaf Active continued to provide play and youth services at the centre five days a week. Activities included boxing, dance, sign language, football, and so much more, as well as a youth club four days a week. Deaf Active used its online hub to share and deliver a variety of different content for young people to access at home as there was still a request for online sessions. Being able to offer these activities gives children and young people from a disadvantaged area the opportunity to learn and develop their skills without finance being a barrier. Football coaching sessions remain extremely popular, and our Deaf Sports program, which was developed that teach sign language along with the sport, offers that inclusivity. Our 3g astro pitch makes tournaments, youth visits, and events more popular and appealing to other youth groups. Over the past year, the sports coach and young people have planned 3 events, Adults v’s Kids, Walking Football, and Deaf Ball. These were created by young people wanting to get their parents and guardians involved, as well as the local community.

Our very popular Discovery Sports Camp was delivered for 10 weeks throughout the year during school holidays. Following conversations with the children and young people, Deaf Active creatively delivered themed days for every sports camp to keep children engaged. Themes were built around current trends, i.e., TikTok, TV programmes, competitive sports, etc. The team have created a varied timetable and themed activities from the regular steering groups and feedback received from the young people. Speaking with the young people, they have expressed that they have experienced reduced social and cultural isolation. Through our method of reversed integration, C&YP have developed new friendships and social networks through participating in the activities. Two girls, one deaf and one hearing, have made friends and gone on to try a new activity at a different youth group. The hearing child has learned sign language and the deaf child has advised she feels more confident to try new things knowing her friend can sign.

At the beginning of the year our records showed a significant decrease in numbers after 3pm. As a team, we decided to carry out consultations with the children, parents and guardians to see if this could improve. We found that the majority say that following school hours is better for them because they are already working around these times. Some feedback suggested having the option would be great so working parents can stay at work. After many consultations, we suggested that the Discovery Sports Camp be available 9:00am - 3:00pm and have additional activities 3:00pm - 5:00pm, that they can then opt into.

Deaf Active’s 18–25 group, ‘Deaf Active New Generation’, continued to meet twice a week, either at the centre or out in the community. The group started forming strong bonds and began socialising in their own time, meeting weekly at a Deaf social club on a Friday evening. Several of the group began the year requiring 1:1 support in the community. It was great to see that some gained the confidence and independence to no longer need or want this support. Using these new-found skills, they started taking a lot more control over overseeing the project themselves and had already started planning for the New Year in September. There was some concern amongst the group in relation to the rising prices and cost of living increases that were discussed daily on the news. We had many discussions around this during the session. It was a great opportunity to share knowledge between the group, clarify any misconceptions, and identify what actual risks they may be facing. We also discussed budgeting and planning ahead in terms of income and expenditure to ensure that the Deaf young people felt financially secure.

Deaf Active continued to receive support from Venus, a local charity that was able to offer us the use of their minibus every week. This allowed us to pick up Deaf children from local schools and colleges, and it also allowed us to venture out on a number of trips, including to the Eureka! Science Museum, so the young people could see the film they had created the previous year displayed in

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DEAF ACTIVE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT - CONTINUED FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

the museum. We also went to Blackpool Pleasure Beach, the water sports centre, Quirky Quarter, Junkyard Golf, and two fantastic theatres that we worked with throughout the year, the Everyman and the Royal Court Theatre, to see interpreted shows. While this was great, Deaf Active wanted to increase their pick-up days and have more flexibility for trips, etc. Deaf Active was successful in funding towards a minibus, and in 2023, we were able to secure the remaining amount. Purchasing our own minibus in November 2023.

Following the success of the grant from Merseyside Police that the young people had put together, we had purchased our inflatable and the number of attendees at the youth club significantly increased, and all of the children and young people thoroughly enjoyed using the new equipment every week. There was also an increase in confidence and self-esteem. They had been involved in the consultation, planning of the bid, and then created a video that was put to the panel.

As always, Deaf Active is continuously trying to inspire young people and broaden their aspirations for the future. Throughout the year, we had several influential Deaf people attend the centre and talk with the young people about their careers and how they got there. This included Michael Woods, a Deaf entrepreneur with a passion for mountaineering; Ray Bradshaw, a famous comedian whose parents are Deaf; Chris Fonseca, a famous Deaf dancer; Rhiannon May, a famous Deaf actress; and two Deaf BBC presenters, Julian Peedle-Calloo and Yvonne Cobb, when they visited Deaf Active to film about the charity for their long-running BBC TV series ‘See Hear’. A clip of this can be seen at the link below.

Time - 1:48 to 7:40

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001s0rd/sign/see-hear-series-43-episode-8

Working with a local theatre company, 20 Stories High, a group of 10 young people were able to take part in the creation and production of a play called ‘High Times and Dirty Monsters'. The play looked at the hard times and challenges that people with disabilities face every day and displayed this in a fun-filled way through music, dance, rapping, poetry, and beatboxing. This enabled the young people to express their frustrations, but it also opened their minds to other disabilities and how we may be able to support others. The play was then showcased in a famous Liverpool theatre, the Everyman, where all the young people's families and Deaf Active staff could watch the completed piece.

Deaf and hearing children and young people have full access to inclusive activities and, as a result, have improved physical and mental health. Many have expressed that they can “be themselves” and do not worry or fear that they will be excluded or bullied for any reason. We are extremely passionate about our young people “having a voice,” and they are very involved in shaping the service and delivery.

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DEAF ACTIVE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT - CONTINUED FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Volunteers

Volunteers are a huge part of Deaf Active, and we have had another successful year watching Deaf young people learn and develop in many different areas. We believe that a strength of Deaf Active is that the team is well-equipped to work with volunteers individually and support them in areas where they would like to progress in the future. For some, this is working with children and young people; for others, it is focused on adult education and training; and for others, it’s working on their general people skills, confidence, and independence.

This year, a lot of volunteers have shown a keen interest in media and editing. From the days of COVID, the team is quite experienced in. Several of the volunteers have learned how to use a green screen, use editing software to play with different backgrounds, add animation, special effects, sound, and subtitles. They have created short stories, songs, and images for Deaf Active’s Hub. These videos have had a huge impact on the community, and one of them has reached 193,800 people, with people from all over the world praising their efforts.

Another fantastic outcome from the volunteers is establishing a weekly Sign & Play group for babies and toddlers aged 0–5 and their parents or carers. The sessions are very informal, and volunteers have been able to use their edited videos for the sessions. The parents of the sessions have been blown away by the children’s ability to learn and use sign language in their day-to-day lives.

Our volunteers work hard to provide Active Fitness. Service users and neighbours are quite pleased with this provision and express their gratitude and value for it. We have increased awareness of health and fitness, spread our message throughout the community, and gone above and beyond to make it a better, healthier place to be. We collaborate with The Joseph Lappin Centre to ensure that priorities are met within the community.

Volunteers have gained work experience and increased their skill set, which has helped improve their employability. One of our volunteers has successfully achieved employment as a communication support worker and is beginning his career working with Deaf people professionally. Two of our volunteers have begun a Level 3 Award in Education and Training with the hopes of teaching sign language in the future. They also want to continue to support our current sign language tutors and gain more experience. Two of our Deaf young people have secured volunteer work and thoroughly enjoy supporting the community. Workshops delivered at Deaf Active over the past year have included; CV writing, interview techniques, financial inclusion, rights and entitlements, access to work, and general employability skills. These workshops have improved access for Deaf people, and given them better opportunities. Deaf young people reported;

“I feel I have a purpose and my opportunities are not limited”

“I didn’t realise I have so many opportunities, I always thought I couldn’t get a good job, one that I enjoyed”

“I feel so much more confident and feel in control of my future and the fact I now have aspirations” The volunteers have supported the growth of the charity and been such valued members of our community. Here is some of the wonderful work our volunteers have created:.

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DEAF ACTIVE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT - CONTINUED FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

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DEAF ACTIVE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT - CONTINUED FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Active Fitness

Our Active Fitness sessions continue to deliver exceptional opportunities for the local community to stay active and prioritize their wellbeing. As a cornerstone of the Joseph Lappin Centre, these sessions remain accessible and affordable, offering vital support during the ongoing cost of living crisis.

We are proud to sustain our partnerships with SEA and MSDP, ensuring our sessions are inclusive and cater to the needs of the Deaf community. By actively working to remove barriers, we ensure that Deaf individuals have equal access to fitness and wellbeing support.

Our dedicated volunteers play a pivotal role in this success. They contribute by creating digital content for the hub, which not only enhances the experience for participants but also extends support to other Deaf organisations. This collaborative effort strengthens our mission of inclusivity and community empowerment.

To measure the impact of our work, we incorporate the Five Ways to Wellbeing, utilize fitness trackers, and conduct regular check-in sessions. These tools allow us to monitor progress, gather valuable feedback, and highlight the positive outcomes of our programs.

Active Fitness continue to provide 5 fitness sessions per week and also continue with the digital fitness sessions, and return to offering personal trainer sessions throughout the week. The team are also looking at ways to generate more income and reach out to workplace and promote the importance of fitness sessions especially as many people jobs include office work and can lead to a very sedentary lifesyle, together we are trying to encourage workpllace to adopt a more active approach.

These types of sessions were important to enable people young and old who did not have any contact with other members of the family; were unable to understand to seek out classes on social media without communication barriers, or who wanted to meet with their community and had no other platform to do so.

I feel fitter and healthier since attending the sessions 98%
I feel my wellbeing has improved since participating 93%
I enjoy the sessions and feel more focused 89%
I feel better connected to my community since attending these sessions 92%
These sessions have enhanced my mental health 91%

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DEAF ACTIVE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT - CONTINUED FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Impact

Our family events have made such a positive impact and helped bring the community and families together:

Pride of Deaf Active:

“Such a fantastic event and a great way for families to access support from such great organisations” “We have not been involved in the Deaf world, and this has been such a great opportunity to meet other families like us”

Sign Language: 1752 children have responded to our surveys:

DEAF ACTIVE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT - CONTINUED | Enjoyed The Session FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

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DEAF ACTIVE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT - CONTINUED FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Below are surveys we asked our children and young people and here are their results:

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DEAF ACTIVE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT - CONTINUED FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Organisations and Stakeholders

Over this past year we have grew from strength to strength focusing on building our profile, networking and building relationships with organisations and stakeholders. We continue to hold a great reputation with the schools across Merseyside and are extremely proud of the achievements and outcomes derived from the project. Additional projects that have developed through our partnership work with The Joseph Lappin Partnership, Liverpool Council, Priority Youth, Merseyside Expanding Horizons, MSDP are helping us expand our service delivery.

We continue to support The Joseph Lappin Centre and together we make sure that we are serving our community. We supported and attended the Festival in June and as always, a great opportunity to promote our services and build that connection with the community.

Training

We want to make sure the team have continued professional development and we have had organisation come along and deliver workshops to ensure staff are up to date and relevant. Training Workshops include; First Aid, Challenging Behaviour, Children’s Rights, Cyber Safety, Safeguarding, Mental Health and Wellbeing, Domestic Violence, Choose Life, Workshop Facilitation, also providing training support within their own sector; play and youth work, language coach, and leadership.

Over the last year our team and those around us have been lucky enough to have received a whole series of vocational based training including, some of our team training as Youth Worker, Trainer, in order to work toward a degree of sustainability. We will be drawing upon these newly acquired skills and the skill set of our current team to charge for activities outside of this project that will provide us with a more conceptual approach to becoming self-sustainable.

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DEAF ACTIVE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT - CONTINUED FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Stepping Stones

Our Stepping Stones program gives us the opportunity to have 10 Deaf young people each year join our team and we are pleased to have been able to support them and provide them with either new skill-set and have that skill-set support us in progressing through a number of projects. We have seen some young volunteers who have wanted to come along as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Award and continued to want to support the charity and our delivery, parents of the children and young people have been particularly keen on helping, others who are extremely keen on becoming part of the team, bringing lots of enthusiasm and energy.

Our volunteers and trainees are extremely important part of Deaf Active and help with our service delivery.

Future Plans

Our future plans are very similar to the previous year as we are at a mid-point and enter into the last year of funding we have discussed, at length, ways in which we are able to promote and enhance services already being provided and how to derive an income from those services. The following services will generate an income:

HANDS – the very popular Hands project is embedded into the curriculum of a substantial amount of schools throughout Merseyside.

Active Fitness – Active Fitness is another extremely popular service that is able to generate an income. There are 5 classes per week which will be charged at £3 per session and Personal Training sessions that will be charged at £10 per half hour session. This has the potential to generate an income of £18,000 per annum and early signs suggest that this is a conservative figure. We want to look into new ways to market Active Fitness as there is competition within the fitness industry and we want to be sure to promote our unique selling point.

British Sign Language Level 1 & 2 & 3 - Great inroads have been made in terms of generating an income through teaching accredited sign language. We aim to have 2 more staff members trained and provide more courses.

Improved links with other 3rd Sector and Statutory organisations has made demand for these accredited courses high. At the beginning of 2023 we introduced a Level 3 class and which had great interest. The tutors are enrolled onto training to ensure they are equipped with the correct skill set to teach this course. The aim this year is to begin training for 10 young people to achieve their Level 3 Award in Education and training in delivery of level 1 that will allow us to deliver more BSL courses and sessions.

Sign & Play – This development from our Stepping Stones project has been a huge success and are becoming in high demand. We aim to have 10 young people trained in the next year to be able to deliver the project.

Deaf Awareness & Intro to BSL – Secondary Schools, colleges and businesses are very keen to have Deaf Awareness Training and bespoke courses delivered at their setting. Our team are working hard to develop this and roll it out within the next year.

Team Away Day – We aim this year for a team away day to look into for strategies and development. We will include staff, trustees, and volunteers to focus on strategic planning, team building, and organisational growth. The change in setting encourages fresh thinking and collaboration, fostering creativity and deeper engagement.

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DEAF ACTIVE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT - CONTINUED FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Grants – Funding applications are submitted on a regular basis for new and existing projects. We are coming into our last year of funding and we have been working with a consultant to look at our funding strategy and look into other funding streams.

Funding will be submitted as and when the local/regional grant making officers allow us to. Other smaller applications are submitted to support the existing services and/or generate new services. We delivered a workshop and the team went through a SWOT analysis which allowed us to look into the different services this helped us develop a strategy to improve our impact.

This past year we were successful in achieving smaller grants which will has helped us improve the play and youth service and be able to offer experiential activities. We have also been successful in being awarded funds for a minibus which is a great help with regular pick-ups of the Deaf young people who attend Knotty Ash Primary School.

Support Service: This service allows Deaf young people have 1 to 1 support within the community and ensure they are able to access services at Deaf Active and other services they would like to.

Thank You

It is with massive thanks to the following grant that Deaf Active have been able to continue their services and supporting vulnerable Deaf children and young people:

The Big Lottery, Children In Need, Sport England, Liverpool City Council, Priority Youth Project. Tudor Trust, The Henry Smith Foundation, The Four Acre Trust, The Talent Fund, ASDA. The Talent Fund, Asda Foundation, and all of the community.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Reserves Policy

The Charity holds unrestricted funds for the purpose of supporting its charitable objectives and activities.

Where grant income and other incoming resources are received and designated for a specific project, restricted funds are created with incoming resources and resources expended in respect of that project being allocated to the fund.

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DEAF ACTIVE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT - CONTINUED FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES' RESPONSIBILITIES

The trustees are responsible for preparing the accounts in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.

Law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the trustees to prepare accounts for each financial year which give true and fair view of the fund's financial activities during the year and of its financial position at the end of the year.

In preparing accounts giving a true and fair view, the trustees should follow best practice and:

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the fund and enable them to ensure that the accounts comply with the applicable law. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the fund and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

On behalf of the trustees:

……………………………………………………… Stacey Robinson – Trustee

22/01/25

……………………………………………………… Date

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DEAF ACTIVE REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT EXAMINER TO THE TRUSTEES OF DEAF ACTIVE I report on the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024 which are set out page 22 - 30 Respective responsibillties of trusts88 and examiner Th8 chsrily's tru8t6a£ are r88pongible for the preparation of tha accounts. Thé ch2rity's tnJst@@s consider thal an audit is not required for this year under section 144<2> of the Chantie8 Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is required. It is my responsibility to. examine the attounts under section 145 of the Charities Act, to follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act, and to state whether particular matters have CA)me to my attention. Basls of the independent examDner's report My examination was carried out in accordance wth the General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented wilh those records.11 also includes consideration of any unusual items or discJosure5 in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide als the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is givèn as to whether the accounts present 8 'true and fair viev/ and th6 report is limited to those matters set out in the stalement below. Independent examln•rfs Ststemont In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention,. 1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the ￿quirements. a. to keep attounling records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; and b. to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act havo not been met; or 2. lo which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order lo enable a proper understanding of th8 accounts to be reached. Date: 23-1-2K+ Name.. Stephen Leonard Professional qualrfication: BA, FCGA Counting for Communities Ltd 16 Holmwood Drive Liverpool L37 1PQ 21

DEAF ACTIVE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

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22

DEAF ACTIVE BALANCE SHEET FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 Charity Number: 1129601

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Approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf:

…………………………………………………….

Stacey Robinson – Trustee

23

…………………………………………………… Date - 22/01/25 DEAF ACTIVE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Accounting Convention

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 and

‘Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice for Charities’ applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).

The accounts are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity and monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.

Going Concern

At the time of approving the accounts, the trustees have reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the accounts.

Income

Incoming recognition

All incoming resources are included on the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) when the charity is legally entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy

Incoming Resources with Related Expenditure

Where incoming resources have related expenditure (as with fundraising or contract income) the incoming resources and related expenditure are reported gross in the SoFA

Grants and Donations

Grants and donations are only included in the SoFA when the Charity has unconditional entitlement to the resource.

Contractual Income and Performance Related Grants

This is only included in the SoFA once the related goods or services have been delivered.

Volunteer Help

The value of any voluntary help received is not included in the accounts.

Investment Income

This is included in the accounts when receivable.

Expenditure and Liabilities

Liability Recognition

Liabilities are recognised as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure.

Governance Costs

These include costs of the preparation and examination of statutory accounts, the costs of trustee meetings and cost of any legal advice to trustees on governance or constitutional matters.

24

DEAF ACTIVE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Grants and Performance Conditions

Where the charity gives a grant with conditions for its payment being a specific level of service output to be provided, such grants are only recognised in the SoFA once the recipient of the grant has provided the specific service or output.

Grants payable without Performance Conditions

These are only recognised in the accounts when a commitment has been made and there are no conditions to be met relating to the grant which remain in the control of the charity

Tangible fixed assets

All IT equipment, plant & machinery and fixtures & fittings with an original cost of less than £1,000 are written off in the year in which the expenditure was incurred.

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life:

Plant and machinery - 15.0% on reducing balance IT Equipment - 33.3% on straight line Motor vehicles - 20.0% on straight line

Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds - can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.

Restricted funds - can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes

Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities and is not registered for VAT.

25

DEAF ACTIVE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

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