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2024-03-31-accounts

BOLTON DEAF SOCIETY ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR

THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

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BOLTON DEAF SOCIETY

ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

CONTENTS

Administrative Information 3
Trustees’ and Directors’ Annual Report 4 - 29
Independent Examiner’s Report 30
Statement of Financial Activities 31
Balance Sheet 32
Notes to the Financial Statements 33 - 41

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Administrative Information

Trustees

Ms R Pickup Chair Mr R Bounds Vice Chair Ms J Barron Secretary Mr J Goucher Outgoing Treasurer Ms Lu Zhang Incoming Treasurer Ms B Davies Trustee Mr H El-Madani Trustee Mr S Lewis* Trustee

Deaf Hard of hearing **Child of a Deaf Adult

Key staff

John Hesketh Chief Executive Officer

Registered office and principal place of business

Bolton Deaf Society, Bark Street, Bolton, BL1 2AX

Independent Examiner and Accountants

Matthew Whiteley FCA Whiteley Accountancy Services LLP 14, Warwick Road Stockport SK4 4LY

Bankers

Royal Bank of Scotland PLC De Havilland Way Bolton BL6 4YU

Investment Managers

CCLA Fund Managers Limited Senator House 85, Queen Victoria Street London EC4V 4ET

Solicitors

Brabners LLP Horton House Exchange Flags Exchange Street East Liverpool L2 3YL

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Trustees’ and Directors Annual Report

Objectives and Activities

Charitable objects

Times change. Deaf community needs and preferences change. Opportunities for work in value-adding partnership present and then run their course leading to collaborations’ conclusion. Pressures around income generation grow greater and then dissipate. The over-arching primary purposes of Bolton Deaf Society have remained fairly consistent over the last 154 years though – to support, promote, empower and protect the interests of people who are D/deaf, hard-of-hearing, resident in Bolton and the surrounding areas, with a view to enhancing the quality of their lives; optimising their learning outcomes/skills for life and work, capacity for self-advocacy and fulsome community participation as active citizens and social action pioneers; enhancing their health, wellbeing and connectivity with supportive peers and professionals all keen to help them achieve their personal and professional potential. We grow self-confidence; social, economic, legal, political, cultural, equality and diversity awareness; knowledge, understanding and motivation towards navigating the largely hearing-led world to find financial independence, social content and professional fulfilment in spite of continued shortfall by many public service providers and employers when it comes to ensuring equitable access as required by the Equality Act 2010, the Accessible Information Standards 2016 and the BSL Act 2023 for example.

In 2023, we updated our charitable objects to reflect the breadth of need we respond to, the increasing variety of works our organisation is called to get involved in, our growing reach and impact. These were duly embedded in our governing document and a revised constitution was ‘signed-off with’ the Charity Commission. Bolton Deaf Society’s approved charitable objects are now as follows:

“To promote social inclusion among Deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing individuals who are socially excluded from society or parts of society, as a result of being Deaf, deafened or hard-of-hearing by (but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing):

Providing education and information to support and enable D/deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals to learn, understand and use British Sign Language

Providing access to educational resources, including schooling, in British Sign Language; also communications support for those who use Sign Supported English or Lip Read

Providing Sign Language interpreters as and when may be required

Raising public awareness of the issues affecting Deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing individuals, both generally and in relation to their social exclusion

Providing workshops, forums, advocacy and general support

Providing visits to Deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing people in their homes

Providing such other services and assistance for Deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing people as will protect, empower and promote their interest with a view to enhancing their quality of life

To advance education by (but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing):

The provision of advocacy support services and skill-building for self-advocacy, life skills courses and communications support so as to enable access to education and training providers

The provision of British Sign Language and Lip-reading courses

The provision of professional development programmes in Deaf Awareness and Interpreter Awareness, Inclusive Employment and Basic British Sign Language for public sector professionals

The prevention or relief of poverty amongst Deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing individuals by (but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing):

Providing advice and guidance around and skill-building for employment and enterprise of Deaf, deafened and hard-ofhearing people

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The advancement of health of Deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing individuals by, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing:

The provision or arrangement of access to inclusive physical activity and sporting opportunities

The provision of British Sign Language Interpreters so that Deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing individuals may access health care in sign language

The promotion of religious harmony for the benefit of the public by, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing:

Providing a multifaith sacred space and multifaith religious services for Deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing people as well as promoting knowledge and mutual understanding and respect of the beliefs and practices of different religious faiths”

Significant changes in D/deaf and hard-of-hearing need and demand or partnerships for the long-term may require that these objects are revisited and further revised in years hence, but it is within the parameters set by these charitable objectives that we will go on with our development, delivery and continuing improvement work for the foreseeable future.

Activities

Our Accessible Information and Advocacy Service has continued to develop this year.

As regards making information accessible for starters….

Our Advocates have produced scams awareness videos in British Sign Language, working in close consultation and collaboration with National Trading Standards and Closha Associates to educate and enable Deaf people to protect themselves and those close to them from falling victim to doorstep, postal and email scams. Most public information material on this subject is in dense written text and lost on a great many Deaf adults because the average reading of a Deaf adult in the UK is 9 years due to shortfalls in communications and study support through the ‘inclusive education system’. Their first language is visual, not written or spoken.

Advocates have also:

Video production has enabled our service to reach more people than before and videos shared through our social media platforms have achieved an average 450 views each. As Bolton Deaf Society digests the findings of our Social Media Audit and begins to find traction with our new Social Media Strategy, our hope is that future videos, visual documentation and anonymised case studies/service impact indicators shared by consent will reach still larger audiences further afield.

Our discrete Advocacy Service has been as active as ever and in the lines that follow our Accessible Information and Advocacy Service Lead, Michael Stead, has offered some reflections on ground covered through 2023/24[1] .

1 Michael is Deaf and his first language is British Sign Language (BSL) not English. Changing his writing would take away from its authenticity though, so please look past spelling, punctuation and grammar issues that you might otherwise pick-up.

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“Bolton Deaf Society has successfully sustained our Advocacy Service this year, offering assistance to Deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing residents with:

Our team can communicate using Sign Language, Sign Supported English, spoken English and – with assistance through our networks – by Lip Speaker and Deaf Relay Interpreter as well. Three experienced advocates bring a combined 50 years’ experience to our organisation, and work on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, providing both client dropin, appointment-based and home visit services.

Statistics:

Through the year, our Accessible Information and Advocacy Service saw 638 Deaf people, breaking down over the year as follows:

April 2023 – 57 May – 60 June – 40 July – 54 August – 58 September – 40 October – 71 November – 62 December – 43 January – 66 February- 47 March – 40

Within the last 12 months our service has been accessed for the following:

Our service has been and continues to be an invaluable lifeline for the Deaf community and because of its reputation, we find that people are coming from Bradford, Bury, Wigan and Manchester in order to seek guidance and support through our service. We have provided an example of the work we have done for one client to show the importance of our work (see the case study to follow).

Case Study- Client E

“I live in private housing and have been for some time. I do not work and I am claiming benefits. My income is already low. When the cost of living started to increase, I have started to struggle with heating and cooking as it was becoming

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too expensive. I receive PIP, which is still not enough. I have decided to apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment via Bolton at Home but the waiting time can be up to 3 months.

The property I am living at has dampness on the walls and I was also experiencing issues with the boiler. The communication has been poor between the landlord and myself which has added time and stress. The reason for this is because BSL is my first language and I struggle to understand messages from them. I rely on the advocate from Bolton Deaf Society.

I have always paid for the electricity and gas with the ‘Boost’ prepaid method. I would go to the shops and purchase a top up there which has been part of the normal routine. However, the company has made changes which has caused some confusion. Firstly, you can only contact them via a phone call which is not accessible. They have asked me to use a new card to top up with.

I am not happy with the whole situation specifically with what has happened, and I did think it would be better for me to move to council housing, this also means more time will be added on.

Few months ago, I fell ill and was taken to hospital due to breathing difficulties and ended up staying for a while. I think with me being constantly cold, has caused my illness. One of the reasons why this had happened could be because the house was cold and damp and I couldn’t afford to have the heating on.

In conclusion, the cost of living has affected me mentally and physically because it was getting too expensive to run the heating. I am grateful for having the advocacy support as they have helped with communication with the landlord. They have also helped me with the new change that ‘Boost’ has implemented.”

Partnerships

We are working closely with various organisations/services within Bolton in order to improve relations and raise awareness of our services. We are continually finding organisations that are not aware of us, and/or what we can offer, equally, there are many of these organisations that believe we work exclusively with Deaf BSL users, when in fact, we support people with all ranges of hearing loss.

We have also worked to maintain existing relationships and continue to offer them support to make their services and events more accessible. For example, at Bolton Food and Drink Festival, Bolton Pride as well as other events, we have organised and provided BSL interpreters as well as promoted these events within the Deaf Community, making them more accessible to Deaf People.

From existing and new partnerships, we ensure that the Deaf community are part of that partnerships where they have opportunities to present their views or concerns. This is where we invite them to forums in which they can meet Deaf people who uses services.

Forums

We have arranged for professionals to attend and talk to BDS beneficiaries every two months from different services and here are some examples: In the last 12 months we have catered to several different services, eg.

They have attended and provided presentations to the social groups within Bolton Deaf Society and this has given the providers the opportunity to explain about their service and gain feedback from the Deaf community on how to make their service more accessible.

“This was good as I have learnt about other services in Bolton that I did not know. It is nice to know Bolton Deaf Society work with them to help me to ensure my communication needs are met”

It has been beneficial for the Deaf community to learn about other services that are in Bolton and gives them an opportunity to provide feedback. For example, the organisation ‘Healthwatch’ asked for feedback on what current issues Deaf people face when accessing health services. This gave those involved opportunities to raise their concerns regarding a lack of BSL interpreters, having to request to book BSL interpreters despite going to their GP for many years and lack of Deaf Awareness. The Deaf community felt they were finally being listened to.

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“It was nice for someone to come and ask about our experiences in health as we have so many issues for so many years but no one seems to listen – they seem shocked by our experiences and hopefully this will improve our experiences.”

Training

Our Advocates worked hard in setting up more Deaf Awareness Training over the last six months of the year as well - providing hearing professionals with the skills and knowledge needed on how to communicate with Deaf people. Our training is always led by Deaf trainers who are able to provide first-hand accounts of their experiences as a Deaf person.

Examples of services that we have provided training for are as follows:

Colleges Eye Diabetes Team Girl Guides Schools MBDA GP Federation

‘Feedback: - ‘The training was excellent and the trainers were really fun which made the session all the more enjoyable. Would definitely book them again!’

Summary

We have made significant progress in providing better accessibility for the Deaf community within Bolton despite only operating on a two-day basis. We feel we could have further impact if we were able to provide support on additional days but we are very proud of the achievements we have made so far and will carry on.”

Through 2023/24, our 2 Deaf, bi-lingual Employment and Enterprise Advisers – funded by Bolton’s Fund, the Inman Charity and a generous legacy gift (all supporters being secure in the knowledge that much infrastructure and many running costs were covered by the National Lottery Community Fund) – were very busy in development and on-going delivery of our specialist Deaf Employment and Enterprise Service:

Of the 27 people seen through the course of the year, 7 are now volunteering, 9 have taken-up further education/training, 3 are on work placement and 8 are continuing to work with us to address their multiple and complex issues and get themselves closer to the labour market. Amongst this 8 are the aspiring entrepreneurs we saw.

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Unfortunately, we could not engage a SFEDI-accredited Enterprise Coach to lead the enterprise elements of this programme but the Enterprise masterclasses and 1-to-1 works that took the place of Coach-led workshops were very well-received.

Over the year, our Employment & Enterprise Advisers have grown quite a network locally and they remained in on-going dialogue with several contacts as the year came to an end:

i. volunteer involving organisations including:

ii. further education and training providers including:

iii. local employers with a keen interest in providing equitable access to work experience placements including but not limited to:

(DWP will now accept Access to Work funding applications to cover communications support for Deaf people being placed, and Bolton Deaf Society are naturally keen to make the most of this and take away any communication concerns prospective placement providers might have.)

iv. employment and enterprise support service providers now switched-on to the disproportionately higher incidence of un/underemployment in Bolton’s Deaf community (running at around 30% on average, but up to 40% among Deaf BAME cohorts):

With all, we are talking Deaf Awareness, Interpreter Awareness and Basic British Sign Language training for frontline staff and hope to get professional development courses set in the diary soon with a view to their beginning

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to adapt day-to-day ways of working – around applications, induction, support, progression and so on. Conversations are also started in parallel around making their website and social media content more visual and incorporating BSL; similarly around building modifications (visual information rather than requirement of audio engagement at car park entrance points and in lifts, flashing alarm beacons, visual wayfinding signage etc) and more Deaf-aware risk management plans; and also on longer-term possibilities around growing Deaf representation in the workforce.

Though our Employment and Enterprise Service did not engage with great numbers last year, it was highly impactful and in strategic landscape terms there are very promising discussions on-going.

In sport and physical activity terms, the last 5 months of 2023/24 were something of a mixed picture for Bolton Deaf Society. Our Deaf-inclusive Sport and Physical Activity Service is still very much in its fledgling development period.

There were several positives worthy of note:

Moving these still-forming working relationships forward has huge potential to open activities previously closed to the Deaf community – strength and fitness training, tennis, badminton, gymnastics, rugby union, running over a range of distances, rugby league, football, Boccia, male/female variants and, in some instances, wheelchair variants; begin growing trust and confidence in local sports and physical activity leads; and start increasing participation, redressing stark health inequalities in the Deaf community locally and realising savings for the public purse.

It has not always been the case, however, that we have met with a positive/easy reception:

Efforts to follow-up were frustrated by competing priorities and conflicting priorities getting in the way over the final weeks of the financial year, but efforts will be re-doubled in 2024/25 assisted by additional, incoming members of staff at Bolton Deaf Society.

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In 2023/24, Bolton Deaf Society’s Interpreter Bookings Service grew our database of qualified, experienced and NRCPD-registered BSL Interpreters, Deaf Relay Interpreters, Lip Speakers, Notetakers, Speech-to-Text Reporters and Deafblind Interpreters, and in addition now to booking communication support professionals for GP Surgeries and Optometrists across the Borough, we receive and service requests from the following as well:

…. and so our reach is growing; Deaf and Interpreter Awareness are increasing and maintaining this momentum is important to Bolton Deaf Society from a Deaf inclusion/social impact point of view; so also from an unrestricted revenue generation perspective given the increasing cost of insurances, utilities, office running costs, building cleaning/maintenance/repair, equipment inspection and certification, third-party HR, ICT and financial management support services. It is our intention to keep pushing our Interpreter Bookings Service outwards through 2023/24 hopeful that we will start to break down barriers to Deaf engagement with services and events.

Arising at the year-end were two potential opportunities of extending this service – through discussion with Independent Living Services at Wigan Council, and through formative dialogue with the Lloyds Bank Foundation. The former are keen to explore Bolton Deaf Society’s prospective commissioning as Interpreter booking leads to help with advocacy work and adaptive assessments in the home where their citizens (resident in one of our neighbouring Boroughs) live with hearing loss; and the latter want to explore possibilities around making their grant application process and associated support services fully accessible to Deaf grantees in light of their recent Deaf-themed funding round. Much work remains to be done with both Wigan Council and the Lloyds Bank Foundation, but affirmative and encouraging for Bolton Deaf Society is that both organisations approached ours having learned of the increasingly impactful work we do in breaking down communication barriers in Bolton. There is much potential in Wigan for extension beyond the Interpreter Bookings brief as well it would seem. Formative discussion has been wide-ranging.

To help strengthen Wigan Council’s service offer to Deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing citizens, Bolton Deaf Society could (beyond the present third-party service contract):

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application, interview and assessment centre procedures, induction, training, support/supervision and appraisal arrangements)

Regardless though, we will keep all key funders and stakeholders fully up to speed as we go forward with our efforts to build these socially impactful enterprising relationships.

Project Work

In last year’s project report, we reflected on numerous works having been completed to conclude refurbishment of the first floor in our small, town centre building – and maintenance works this year have continued with the replacement of two rotten wooden windows to the rear, with just one now outstanding and a gutter repair due before all will be UPVC and fully modernised. Wheelchair lift upgrades and replacement equipment and furniture for our games room (pool, snooker and darts) will be fundraising subjects in 2024/25. Reference was also made last year to growing the accessibility of services for those unable to engage online, unable to afford travel into and/or parking in town, and feeling unsafe with the anti-social behaviour, substance misuse, skip-dipping, sex work and rough sleeping that goes on in close proximity – and we’re pleased to report here that we have successfully established a presence at Horwich Community Centre where our Accessible Information and Advocacy Service hold drop-ins and Lip Reading courses go on. Trialling works in Great Lever over on the East of the Borough have not met with such success just yet on the grounds that there has been a significant delay in building handover to Endeavour, close friends and intended partners of Bolton Deaf Society, but when this provision does come on stream it will again be subject to test and trial – giving our organisation profile, growing reach and impact in neighbourhoods that we have not historically connected with.

In 2023/24, there were a further handful of projects on which we set for betterment of the organisation’s infrastructure:

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independent examination services – and as the year came to a close our Trustees were each completing the necessary Anti-Money Laundering checks to enable transition from the previously disparate arrangements shared between four parties/streamlining and the relief of pressures on our Projects Lead in order that she can focus fully on projects’ management for Deaf community benefit

Worth reporting here too is that in lead-up to the end of the financial year, Bolton Deaf Society were approached by Bury Hearing Hub Trustees (formerly Bury Deaf Society) on the prospect of our organisation taking over theirs and extending our reach to Bury, their working relationship with the Deaf community in Bury having broken down in light of their last Director’s retirement, due rebrand by a hearing Board and struggle to find funds to grow staffing, lead consultation, create service redevelopment plans and funding strategy. The two other options their Board are considering are charity closure (and this would be a great shame after the recent demise of East Lancashire Deaf Society and Genie Networks in Trafford), and downsizing subject to being able to recruit a full new Board of Trustees to take the confidence and trust rebuild/organisational reinvigoration forward.

Trustees’ initial thoughts at Bolton Deaf Society are that it is nice to be approached and have another organisation give such complementary feedback; our organisation already attracts service-users from Bury; Bury Council’s Domestic Abuse Team have recently approached Bolton Deaf Society on the prospect of our providing training in Deaf inclusion; and Bolton CAB have recently taken a similar path and merged with Bury – there may be learning opportunities there. They (our Trustees) are further minded to seek legal advice on rigorous due diligence, present employee exit/redundancy/TUPE transfer arrangements, and any restrictions/difficulties that may come with funds/liabilities transferred to Bolton IF our organisation were to proceed with a growth plan. There’s much to consider and one of the key considerations is how to guard against focus on the Borough of Bolton being compromised in the event a decision is made to go-ahead.

In 2023/24, Bolton Deaf Society have continued to support the work of the Deaf-led, independently constituted groups meeting in our Bark Street building. With our continuing group development work, we have again made good progress:

Working with our team of Advocates this year, they have integrated visiting speakers into their meeting schedule to add value to their work on countering loneliness and sustaining good mental health. Visiting experts have walked and talked through:

And feedback has been consistently positive. Opportunities of incidental learning through radio, newspapers, passing conversation and similar are usually closed-off to Deaf people who cannot hear, converse with hearing people that do not sign, or read dense, detailed text when the average Deaf adult reading age is 9 years. Having their awareness and understanding grown through inputs in their first language has been very helpful to them. Numbers within this group run up to 70 a week now, and on occasion, for joint events with the Deaf Social Club from Manchester Deaf Centre, they will use other larger buildings – which is great from a profile and relationship-building point of view. These joint events bring together 130/140 people each time.

ii. Handmade Sign Language Choir

The British Sign Language Choir that meets in our building goes from strength to strength. Between 30 and 40 attend for practice each week. In September 2023, they travelled to Jersey to be part of an International Sign Language Choir Festival, and in December 2023, they were invited to perform at Bolton Town Hall on the occasion of the

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Mayor’s Charity Fair. As the year drew to a close, they were planning to host a UK-wide BSL Choir Festival in July 2024, Hand Song – and this was expected to bring together more than 500 people from across the country to perform at Bolton Deaf Society and the much larger Victoria Hall around the corner; Deaf people from Aberdeen, Dundee, Derby, Halifax and Plymouth among other places. All the while their stock is rising and their bringing Deaf, deafened, hard-of-hearing and hearing people together to share their love of BSL and performance will doubtless have a big impact on Deaf awareness locally with much interest before tickets went on sale, and Bolton News wanted to run a story.

New this year for the Deaf Asian Women’s Group have been visits to the female-only Changing Life Directions Gym where they build their strength and aerobic fitness through self-directed activity and inclusive gym induction, and their running in collaboration with an Indian female-led, Bolton-based group called Midlife Runners. Members of the group are beginning to jog now too and it’s great to see.

Through the year their respective committee representatives attended a number of courses organised by Bolton Deaf Society in their continued empowerment:

Remaining on the list are Confidentiality & Data Protection, Equality & Diversity, Food Hygiene and General Health & Safety, and then they will be repeated on a 12-18 month cycle to help ensure their safe, legally compliant and equitable practice.

Though not independently constituted, there have been 3 other groups coming together monthly at Bolton Deaf Society in this last year as well and in the interests of providing a rounded picture, they should be referenced in this year-end report as well:

i. Bolton Adult Autism Support

There is a disproportionately higher incidence of Autism in the Deaf community compared to the hearing community[3] and local charity BASS now do targeted work in our building. Arts and crafts frequently feature in their life and social skills sessions. They also hold information sessions for those in attendance covering the likes of Personal Budgets, support services available in Bolton (eg. through GPs and the Trafford Extended Services – encompassing Clinical Psychology, Speech and Language Therapy, Social Work and Community Nursing; a Coping Skills Group etc), and development of the Autism Strategy in Bolton.

2 Reduced anxiety, alleviation of depression caused by isolation, greater social confidence and brighter outlook, friendship-making, emotional/practical/peer support to call on when needed, improved sense of connectivity/belonging/self-esteem etc.

3 1 in 59 Deaf people live with Autism as compared to 1 in 100 hearing people.

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ii. Enabling Technologies Drop-in

On pre-set dates through the year, this involves Audiologists bringing a range of assistive equipment for people living with hearing loss to view and test before buying independently – eg. vibrating alarms to wake Deaf, deafened and hardof-hearing people from their sleep; telephone, tv and radio amplifiers; bluetooth hearing aids able to assist with phone calls. The technical team also help with hearing aid battery replacement, adjustment and so on.

iii. Tinnitus Support Group

Convened and facilitated by the Audiology Department at the Royal Bolton Hospital, this group meets monthly and around 40 attend each time. In part it is about peer support, sharing experiences and coping mechanisms between people living with Tinnitus. In part it is about medical professionals and research leads sharing progress in their collaborative research projects as well – giving insight into prospective treatments under development.

As time allowed, Bolton Deaf Society went on through 2023/24 developing courses for public benefit. Quite a lot of time went into training course development this year:

Basic British Sign Language

Our Deaf Advocate, Erika, continued to lead on her 10-week Introduction to BSL course and delivered three rotations of the same course through the year to 12 learners each time – covering:

As last year, Erika has received some brilliant feedback on her teaching. What’s significantly different to last year, however, is that Bolton College now deliver British Sign Language Level 1 qualifications on site at Bark Street here meaning that there is now a progression pathway for learners from the introductory courses. This BSL 1 course was running with two separate groups of 14 as the year ended and receiving very good reviews. It covers:

Learners include hearing citizens presently losing their hearing, Deaf residents and hearing people with caring responsibilities towards others that are Deaf or losing their hearing.

In 2024/25, our hope is that partnership development with Bolton College will enable delivery of BSL Level 2 and Deafinclusive adult courses too – further broadening social and cultural awareness, and growing skills for life in the Deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing community in Bolton. Courses in which expressions of interest have already been received from Deaf and hearing learners include Community Interpreting, Volunteering and British Culture; Digital Skills; English and Maths; Health, Wellbeing and Confidence; and Sports and Fitness.

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Lip-Reading

Following on from previous introductory courses, we had an Advanced Lip-Reading course start with 6 learners in March – and it is our hope and that of our tutor that we will be able to have this grow and run on a roll-on/roll-off basis moving forward. With the proportion of Deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing people in Bolton set to grow to 1 in 5 by 2030, we recognise that there’s need of people on the hearing loss spectrum growing their competencies and confidence in lip reading – and as the still to be appointed Community Engagement Lead gets to work at Bolton Deaf Society, we expect the profile of this course will build and that more learners (not necessarily in receipt of our web-based and social media communications to date, possibly sitting on the wrong side of the digital skills/device access gap) will take-up the opportunities of learning through Bolton Deaf Society and in building their communications capacity, grow their readiness to navigate their way through a largely hearing world on a day-to-day basis.

Managing Deafness in a Hearing World

Aimed at deafened and hard-of-hearing people coming to emotional and practical terms with their hearing loss, this oneday course introduces Deaf culture and shares experiences of charting a path somewhere between hearing and Deaf communities. It grows awareness of basic BSL, lip reading, communications support professionals and services, welfare benefit entitlements, legal rights to request reasonable adjustment in employment and public service settings, caring for any residual hearing, ensuring that one is fully understood in communications with others and similarly that they make themselves fully understood to ensure against ill-informed decision-making and harm.

To add to the knowledge and skills of hearing professionals working with Deaf people, Bolton Deaf Society continued in the development and delivery of in-work training courses through 2023/24:

Deaf Awareness

Our Deaf Awareness course covers:

Our qualified Deaf trainers delivered this course to a number of employers this year – including but not exclusive to:

Approaches have been received from Bolton Dentists and Blackburn Carers Centre on the possibility of this course being rolled-out to them and delivery arrangements need to be finalised. Word is spreading on the value that we’re adding through our training and there is a sense of building momentum, even a real sense of professional excitement building as to what could be achieved in system/process change and social impact terms if Bolton Deaf Society can continue to deliver this course. As we expand our team and relieve pressures on our Projects Lead, our monitoring, measurement, evaluation and reporting capacity will grow.

Interpreter Awareness

This short online course covers:

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Aimed at organisations unaware of how their reliance on family members/friends interpreting can adversely impact understanding, decision-making, outcomes, costs and more, this course was delivered for the first time this year to representatives from the 49 GP Surgeries and Optometrists whose operations are overseen by Greater Manchester Integrated Care and it met with some brilliant reviews. Numbers of surgery requests for interpreters and communication support professionals have grown significantly in light of the course. We now receive and process around ten a week, and these reasonable adjustments will begin to reflect in reduced Deaf health inequalities in time. The challenge for Bolton Deaf Society is to grow the capacity and methodology required to measure and report on these differences made, and these are the current subject of discussions with the School of Health at the University of Bolton. A collaboration with their research leads may be possible here.

Inclusive Employment and Access to Work

Covering a number of subject matters, this course is intended to grow readiness for Deaf inclusion in recruitment, the workforce and service/product delivery. It:

In our experience, Deaf employees are well-placed to advise on Deaf-inclusive system change and external communications; very good at reading body language; respectful, but determined, tenacious and super resilient; superb problem-solvers; very loyal and hard-working employees receptive to personal and professional development opportunities and always inclined to make the very most of them. There is much value Deaf employees can add to any business operation.

Benefitting from the Inclusive Employment and Access to Work courses we delivered in 2023/24 were:

As the year ended, we also had a request from The Growth Company (education, training, employment, business development, net zero and consultancy leads working across GM but headquartered in Manchester) – and this lead is to be followed-up.

If, through delivery of this course, Bolton Deaf Society can continue to open employer minds and hearts to the importance of Deaf inclusion in their workforces then we will be doing the Deaf community, businesses and the public purse/everyday taxpayer a good service.

Enterprising Development and Financial Diversification

Within the bounds of our 3 days a week capacity, Bolton Deaf Society have worked hard this year to sustain the importance of good work from last year and maintained several business development leads previous:

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Public sector wheels sometimes turn very slowly, but Bolton Deaf Society are definitely into Deaf inclusion for the longterm.

We have also opened doors afresh:

Once we have our new Business Development Lead in situ we expect that we will have much more capacity to make the logistical arrangements necessary; optimise efficiency in the collection of value-added evidence and sharing of good news stories; build our freelance pool of trainers and business development consultants; and go on growing new surplus-making activity. This work will be crucial indeed as we strive to earn into existence the necessary budget to help cover the cleaning and maintenance of our building, repairs, insurances, utility costs, telephone, broadband bills, ICT/HR/Financial support services through third parties, equipment, materials and aspects of our advocacy, employment and sports & physical activity services – and begin to reduce our overall reliance on fixed-term grant funding.

Learning

Bolton Deaf Society remains committed to learning and through 2023/24, two of our still new-ish managers (our Projects Lead, Zienna and Accessible Information & Advocacy Service Lead, Michael) completed Leadership Development Programmes with People Matters HR covering:

Leadership

The concepts that drive business Leadership v Management Leadership Styles Problem-solving and Decision-making

Team Leadership

Being an Authentic Leader Communication Diversity Leading Teams Silo Mentality Wellbeing Assurance

Leading Change

What is change? Readiness for change Change Leadership Overcoming Barriers

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Employment Law Quiz and Time Management

Employment Law Quiz The Eisenhower Principle – Urgent v Important Delegation Time Management Tips

Managing People Issues

Nipping things in the bud Managing under performance Giving feedback Managing absence Capability Investigations Discipline Grievance Hearings

Performance Appraisals

Options for managing performance The basics Preparation Feedback Objective setting After the appraisal

Recruitment

Job analysis Job descriptions and person specifications Shortlisting Effective interviewing Making the decision Pre-employment checks Induction and probation management

Our enabling this learning and development activity by SMT colleagues should help ensure consistency in their application of policies and procedures, so too in the experiences of Bolton Deaf Society employees as they increase in number and our organisation grows.

Through the year, others in our team took-up on learning and development activity as well:

Planned for early in 2023/24 are still additional courses:

Level 3 Youth Work training for our 2 new youth workers – to be accessed free of charge to Bolton Deaf Society through the Community Futures Trust CIC

With the independent, Deaf-led Groups meeting in our building, the following courses will be delivered with BSL communications support on hand to ensure they are fully accessible:

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They will educate, empower and ensure that independent group leads are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to care for those engaged with their activity in their time on Bolton Deaf Society premises, complying with charity policy and procedure.

From a broader organisational point of view, Bolton Deaf Society has reflected and learned much as well:

Internally

Externally

As a Senior Management Team, we also reflected regretfully at the end of 2023/24 on not having managed to find the time to sustain a focus on/positive momentum with

to the extent we would have liked. However, all are firmly baked into our development plans for 2024/25.

We expect that the external scrutiny Trusted Charity Mark opens us to will improve our governance and operational management, and are confident that the external coach and assessor we work with will bring invaluable experiences from work with other organisations to bear around governance; planning; leadership and management; user-centred service; managing people; learning and development; managing money and resources; external communications; work with others; assessing outcomes and impact.

Stakeholder mapping will give all in our team greater visibility on where our organisation fits in the wider strategic architecture of Bolton; several points of reference for receipt of and onward referral, also indeed plentiful food for thought on Deaf awareness and inclusion works’ training/bespoke system change consultancy.

Cost benefit analysis, social accounting and visual minuting will enable Bolton Deaf Society to tell more compelling stories and evidence the impact of our varied works.

Additional core funding secured through the Garfield Weston Foundation, Lloyds Bank Foundation and the National Lottery Community Fund for 2024/25 and beyond will help us ensure that some of the operational responsibilities and everyday tasks taken by the CEO and Projects Lead previously may now be delegated, freeing-up time to focus on

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strengthening infrastructure, adding to connectivity and doing better, more rigorous and systematic justice to the challenge of copper-bottomed reporting on differences made and returns on investment delivered.

Public benefit

The Trustees of Bolton Deaf Society consistently have regard to Charity Commission guidance on public benefit in determining services and activities.

Achievements and Performance

Governance

The Bolton Deaf Society Board of Trustees have continued to meet this year and reflect on and share a few 2023/24 positives here:

In honest, 360-degree reflection they also recognised in March that they hadn’t come as far as they’d wanted with senior staff in:

These delays were put down to unexpected, highly time-consuming occupation with a difficult staff exit; degrees of financial uncertainty for a period and scenario planning in the last 4-5 months of the year; also to degrees of employer capacity/budget constraints and reluctance; and to requirement of greater building and service-user capacity-building in preparation to take on responsibility of the sort we hope to delegate/empower/entrust them with in time to enrich our governance and leadership but the commitment to progressing these priorities is not lost only delayed.

Plus points: strategic and operational

At the end of 2023/24 Bolton Deaf Society was pleased to have grown trustee, staff and volunteer numbers as the organisation pushes forward with its needs-led development work, recognised the hard work of staff by granting additional leave to bridge the Christmas/New Year gap and giving notice of a 4% pay increase, and both provided training for and awarded certificates to volunteers. We were proud to have retained the support of Bolton’s Fund, Bradshaw Gass Trust, Eric Wright Charitable Trust, Sobell Foundation and the National Lottery Community Fund as well as winning the support of new core funders including Garfield Weston and Lloyds Foundation – both keen to invest in our impactful work and need-led plans for organisational and service development. We were also very thankful to Bolton Council for their opening so many doors and possibilities for the future around, for example, growing the accessibility of the recruitment and selection process for Deaf job candidates, making their cross-sector service directory available in captioned BSL format, having Interpreters make the flagship Food & Drink Festival Deaf-inclusive, enabling input on their public/VCSE leadership

4 Disabilities and health conditions include ADHD, Autism, Chronic and frequent migraines, anxiety and depression, Dyspraxia, Gastroesophageal reflux disease, and irritable bowel syndrome.

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team days possible, allowing direct dialogue with their CEO and having the Mayor adopt us as one of his charities of the year. Their level of support has been remarkable and in years to come we have great hopes for this strong working relationship’s potential. Healthwatch Bolton have shared our commitments and ambitions to encourage local health professionals’ reflection on the inaccessibility of their services and unintended exacerbation of Deaf health inequalities at great social cost and expense to the public purse, working alongside the GPs Federation to make representations for change informed by Deaf Boltonians that Bolton Deaf Society has identified and empowered. And, at sub-regional level, we are pleased to have started dialogue with Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s Disabled People’s Panel and Transport for Greater Manchester’s Disability Reference Group, also with Greater Manchester Integrated Care and the Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. Much as we continue pushing on with locally relevant and impactful service development work so we also commit more time as our staff/volunteer/confident service-user numbers grow to trying to inform and influence change.

Our Board of Trustees ended the year with much positivity and considerable anticipation, thankful for the organisational and service development progress that funders and the Deaf community in all its diversity continue to enable; grateful for the hard work of staff and volunteers; and looking forward to seeing new children and young people’s services come on stream; new time-limited education and empowerment projects around hate crime and self-help through the cost-of-living crisis find traction and optimise their impact; new partnership/collaboration/merger possibilities explored further with Bury Hearing Hub and others; and new socially impactful enterprising opportunities (training and bespoke consultancy for example) made the most of as we strive to generate gradually greater unrestricted income and cover increasing insurance, utility service, office consumable, HR, financial management and administration, building maintenance and repair costs that result from the bigger picture of economic hardship and inflation with which the country contends and our growth responsive to need in a county and region where the number of specialist Deaf service providers is small and the Deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing community crossing all the social intersections it does is growing in size year on year with hereditary and work-related hearing loss cases continuing to rise.

Performance reporting

Looking ahead, our organisation hopes and intends still to review and create over-arching and service/project-specific targets afresh; also to embrace and make more of cost benefit analysis and social accounting looking forward (to make reports like this more visual and impactful, easier to navigate and consider) – and yet at the same time, the need is recognised to create and embed more data collection systems and establish increased strategic management capacity if these opportunities are to be taken for public, partner, stakeholder, present and prospective funder/commissioner benefit and this is a challenge that trustees were giving much thought to in March 2024.

Funding

Grants have been secured in 2023/24 from numerous sources for several different purposes:

Towards organisational development and running costs

Towards core salaries and remuneration associated with new posts, and associated organisational/service development

Towards children and young people’s services

Towards accessible information and advocacy services for adults

Towards employment and enterprise services for adults

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Towards health and wellbeing services for adults – including sports and physical activity, and the Deaf Asian Women’s Group

All grants are listed in notes 2 and 3 of the Accounts.

The support of all these funders is hugely appreciated, and as in previous years emails and letters of thanks, update reports and/or invitations to visit, see and understand the difference they have enabled were issued.

Special thanks are also due this year to Revd David Evans, his bereaved family and parish in Halliwell, Bolton for his generous legacy gift.

Returns/interest payments on investments this year were up by more than 39% on last year, and though the monetary return of £6,853 was quite modest still, this increase in return was a positive reflection on investments being managed well, largely by CCLA.

Looking ahead, we anticipate challenges in sustaining organisational/service development and wider-ranging operations at the level required by the Deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing communities across Bolton and surrounding areas, also by the public service providers in the areas we serve as they continue to grapple with training budget cuts but also continue in too many instances to fall short in fulfilment of their legal duties towards Deaf inclusion and compliance with requirements of the Equality Act, Accessible Information Standards and BSL Act. The irony is that failed provision of accessible, equitable Deaf community support leads to issues’ escalation and greater public purse costs than would have been incurred had the resourcing of earlier intervention been possible, and in this difficult context Bolton Deaf Society are fully committed to enable public/third sector service providers to do more and be more for the 15%+ of the local population that live with and too frequently have their lives limited by facility/service inadequacies. These income generation and system change challenges will be tackled in parallel through focused financial diversification and continued growth and training of the staff team as budget allows. Pushing to win more contracts and greater corporate support are big priorities for 2024/25 as we redouble our efforts to get closer to sustainable operations.

Capital works

The Deaf Centre on Bark Street remains Bolton Deaf Society’s largest asset in financial and practical terms. Without it, service delivery would be so much more difficult. Following on from substantive refurbishment works over the last two years, we have this year replaced rotten first floor windows and foyer flooring, also getting air conditioning quotes for the first floor and the Board and Senior Management Team are both committed to continued incremental improvements as unrestricted funds allow, so also to ensuring that staff and volunteers delivering on outreach work are properly equipped. Funds for capital expenditure are often hard to come by, but as our organisation starts to earn more and raise more so we hope that we will be able to stay ahead with all that’s necessary.

Financial review

Overview

Through 2023/24, Bolton Deaf Society continued on its positive organisational development trajectory:

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The biggest financial successes of the year were, however, in securing 3 years’ support from both Lloyds Foundation and the National Lottery Community Fund’s Reaching Communities programme and we are both hugely grateful for their assistance and excited by what Bolton Deaf Society can achieve before the end of March 2027.

Details of the grants secured in 2023/4 are given in notes 2 and 3 to the accounts and expenditure against funds and balances carried forward are shown in note 15.

Principal funding sources

In 2023/24, Bolton Deaf Society was funded principally through charitable grants again:

Charitable and other grants 85.1%
Donations and legacies 4.1%
Investment and other income 10.8%

Through the year, however, Bolton Deaf Society was very pleased to begin booking Interpreters, Lip Speakers, Communication Support Workers and similar for the 49 GP Surgeries and Optometrists across the Borough of Bolton. Servicing this interim contract with Greater Manchester Integrated Care will begin to diversify our organisation’s income streams, and all the more so as the profile of this service builds and ad-hoc bookings from across Bolton start to grow in number – from the Council, the NHS Foundation Trust, The Octagon Theatre, the College and University, and institutions/service providers aside.

As 2023/24 ended, moreover, the charity was beginning to build good, strong working relationships with sensory/adult services/early intervention teams in the Borough of Wigan – one of our neighbouring local authority areas. Our Advocates were getting increasingly busy in servicing referrals from Wigan, there being no specialist Deaf service provider in those areas; invited to deliver Deaf Awareness, Interpreter Awareness and Basic BSL training to frontline colleagues in independent living; and requested to assist Deaf people in safe familiarisation with adaptive equipment and enabling technologies given for use in the home and community settings. Going forward, our hope is that there will be chance to do more in Wigan for the betterment of Deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing citizens’ lives. Doing greater social good in line with Bolton Deaf Society’s charitable objectives and increasing unrestricted incomes earned for investment in strengthening our core functions would clearly be good all round.

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Investment policy

The Trustees remain cautious around Bolton Deaf Society’s investments and lower yield for greater security remains a compromise with which the Board are content at the end of 2023/24.

Reserves policy

It is the policy of Trustees to hold not more than 6 months’ running costs in free reserves (unrestricted funds not invested in fixed assets or otherwise designated). Free reserves as at 31[st] March 2024 were £140,472 against an agreed budget of £343,878 for 2024/25, which equates to c. 5 months’ operational costs. It is our expectation that as we onboard our new Business Development Lead and she begins to generate income through commissioned service delivery, training and community fundraising that we will begin to build Bolton Deaf Society’s reserves again and if the proposed merger goes through with Bury Hearing Hub, then we will be able to grow unrestricted revenues further as our organisation’s reach increases and scope for wider-ranging business development and community fundraising presents. At the same time, it is not lost on anyone at Bolton Deaf Society that as our organisation grows so governance, office running, building maintenance/repair, insurance, interpreter, rent, bookkeeping, accounting and other costs will increase so some of these increased revenues will need to be ringfenced.

Going concern

The Trustees believe that Bolton Deaf Society remains on a positive trajectory, and at the financial year end have no concerns to report on the organisation’s viability going forward.

Future plans

Bolton Deaf Society is pleased with progress made this year towards/in bringing new, needs-led services on stream, not least:

and

Due to the year being such a busy one, appraisal of the social enterprise start-up option with a view to channelling socially impactful enterprise activity through it and this, in turn, supporting Bolton Deaf Society was deferred but with a clear intention to revisit this option in 2024/25 in which we will engage several new staff and free-up SMT members’ time to move such strategic options forward.

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A handful of other priorities were agreed by the Board as needing to be carried forward to 2024/25 as well, time having run away with our part-time staff team and other pressures and priorities having occupied intended production partners:

Through quarter 4 of 2023/24, conversations also started with the Board of Trustees at Bury Hearing Hub, formerly Communi8 and Bury Deaf Society – these about the position in which the organisation found itself: pleased by the ‘new Board’s’ debt clearance and maintenance of sound meeting facilities, active, mostly self-directed groups furthering their learning around ICT skills, crafts and lip-reading, and enjoying light-hearted recreation; and at the same time tired by the challenge of building confidence and trust in the Deaf community, clarity afresh on Deaf, deafened and hard-ofhearing needs, priorities and preferences, and pushing forward to bring new projects and services to life, to inform and influence strategy and budget development work across the public and third sectors in Bury. At the end of March, it was hoped that a merger might be agreed with inaccessible, expensive to run property sale the plan and a shift in emphasis towards tangible, impactful service delivery led by Bolton Deaf Society with all its experience. Other options were being considered including property sale and reversion to a small, volunteer-led operation in a less expensive location away from the town centre and straight closure, but our charity expressed keen interest in sustaining and building needs-led provision there – across the Borough of Bury. Discussions were expected to continue in the new financial year and conclude by Summer 2024. All at Bolton looked forward with some excitement to the possibilities and potential presenting in Bury with chance to save and build back impactful services there rather than allowing them to run down or disappear as in East Lancashire, Trafford and numerous other locations over recent years.

Structure, governance and management

Governing document

Bolton Deaf Society is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), registered charity number 1191838, and is governed by its foundation constitution dated October 15[th] 2020, as amended on 15/12/2021 and a Board of Trustees. The assets, liabilities and operations of the previous unincorporated charity (registered number 215340) were transferred to this CIO on 15[th] October 2020.

Appointment of trustees

Following a comprehensive recruitment process, Trustees are appointed by the Board of Trustees at their meeting and serve for a period of three years before being subject to re-election. Through quarters 2, 3 and 4 of 2023/24, Bolton Deaf Society was actively trying to recruit new, additional Trustees with expertise in Health & Safety, Safeguarding and Deaf-inclusive Marketing, Communications and PR, but attracting interested and suitably well-equipped is a challenge with which the organisation must push forward to strengthen its self-regulation and quality assurance capacity.

Trustee induction and training

Trustees receive a full induction and training appropriate to their portfolio of responsibilities, as well as regular refresher training on good governance and peer support. Business and training calendars remain Board commitments.

Organisation

The Bolton Deaf Society Board of Trustees must have no more than eight and no fewer than three trustees. The charity’s governing document does not specify how often the Board should meet, but in practice meetings are held monthly, with the day-to-day management of the charity delegated to the CEO, Projects Lead and Accessible Information and Advocacy Service Lead (the SMT). Once the new Officer Manager and Business Development Lead are in place – early in 2024/25 all being well – they will join the SMT as well and grow its membership to 5.

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Co-operation with other organisations

Keen to maximise reach, effectiveness and efficiency, Bolton Deaf Society goes on linking with public, private and third sector organisations active across the Borough and surrounding local areas and through 2023/24, we established a number of value-adding working relationships:

Accessible Information and Advocacy

Particularly pleasing this year is that in addition to working with Deaf people to relieve stress by making representations and breaking system access/progress barriers, our Advocates have been able to help a number of local service providers improve first-time, day-round, year-round accessibility for Deaf, BSL-users:

Employment and Enterprise

Through 2023/24, restricted funding constraints meant that we needed to reduce from two to one Employment and Enterprise Adviser with new emphases on partnership working and opening doors to service capacity-building with a view to enabling employer and training provider compliance with their equitable access duties under the Equality Act 2010, the Accessible Information Standards 2016 and the BSL Act 2022 (also freelance and volunteer involvement options to the fore); reducing the incidence of Deaf unemployment and associated costs to the public purse in the form of welfare benefit claims, lost tax revenues and mental health treatment costs; and growing financial independence in the Deaf community. Bolton at Home have been particularly pro-active this year in working with Bolton Deaf Society to create Deaf-inclusive work experience placements and progression pathways. Their support has been greatly appreciated and they have now set a bar that other employers in the Borough of Bolton – home to 47,500 Deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearting people – can hopefully step-up to.

Sport and Physical Activity

In 2023/24, we extended our Deaf and Interpreter Awareness and Basic BSL training to Bolton Arena, Farnworth and Horwich Leisure Centres, and secured 18 Deaf sign-ups to fully-inclusive Deaf fitness sessions – and looking ahead to 2024/25, we plan to build on these foundations in working to grow participation still further through collaboration with Vector Training in delivery on a Level 2 qualification for Deaf Personal Trainers to get them employment ready and establish a cohort of role models that will further encourage Deaf participation in gym-based activity and open eyes, hearts and minds to badminton, football, tennis, running and all manner of other activity options on site at Leisure Centres across our Borough, an area in which Deaf health inequalities are stark:

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Growing participation in sport and physical activity is clearly not the only answer, but local works do go on in parallel to grow the accessibility of Public Health materials and campaign messaging, so the inclusivity of GP and acute health care services.

More widely, we were fortunate enough to work this year with:

Trustees and senior staff would like to thank all for their continued support in 2023/24. You have enriched our service provision considerably and from working with you our organisation has learned a great deal.

Strategic and operational management

The day-to-day running of Bolton Deaf Society is devolved to the Chief Executive Officer, John Hesketh, and in settingout and progressing development plans this year, he has again been keen to align activity with need. From a strategic point of view, he has:

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… all to help underpin and support growth in activity on and off site with direct benefit for the Deaf, deafened and hardof-hearing communities we serve and growth of hearing professionals’ capacity for Deaf community inclusion in mind. New people and arrangements are bedding-in but getting all working to full potential and benefit will take a short while.

In operational terms, 2023/24 sadly saw Bolton Deaf Society lose a Buildings Lead (and at the year-end efforts were on-going to recruit a successor), Employment & Enterprise Adviser and Deaf Advocate (due to requirements of budget trimming and a resignation respectively), but on a positive note these staffing losses have necessitated more creative thinking and given rise to peripatetic, freelance engagement where needed and more partnership-working. Volunteer numbers grew from 2 to 9 in year, new colleagues assisting with visitor reception, office administration, caretaking, outreach, consultation and promotion – and supported by the new Volunteer Co-ordinator role we have created.

As the financial year drew to a close, plans were being made for Trustee training in safeguarding as party of the Board’s on-going refresh, learning and development programme, also for staff away days to aid future plans’ enrichment, agree and start embedding refreshed values and quality standards across increasingly far-reaching operations.

Trustees’ responsibilities in relation to the financial statements

The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the Financial Statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Charity 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 charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure of the charity for that period. In preparing these Financial Statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the Financial Statements comply with the Charities Act 2022. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Approval

Approved by the Board of Trustees and signed on its behalf by

Ms Rebecca Pickup, Chair of the Board Bolton Deaf Society 2[nd] October 2024

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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT

TO THE TRUSTEES OF BOLTON DEAF SOCIETY

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Bolton Deaf Society (the Trust) for the year ended 31 March 2024.

Responsibilities and basis of report

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’).

I 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 I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

Your attention is drawn to the fact that the charity has prepared financial statements in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK (FRS 102) in preference to the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice issued on 1 April 2005 which is referred to in the extant regulations but has now been withdrawn.

I understand that this has been done in order for financial statements to provide a true and fair view in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Practice effective for reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2015.

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

  1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or

  2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or

  3. the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.

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

Signed:

Name: Matthew Whiteley FCA Professional Body: ICAEW

Whiteley Accountancy Services LLP 14 Warwick Road Stockport SK4 4LY

Date: 3rd October 2024

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BOLTON DEAF SOCIETY

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (including the Income and Expenditure account) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Notes
INCOME
Donations
2
Charitable activities
3
Other trading activities
4
Investment income
5
TOTAL INCOME
EXPENDITURE
Cost of raising funds
6
Charitable activities
7
TOTAL EXPENDITURE
Net gains/(losses) on investments
12
NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)
BEFORE TRANSFERS
Transfer between funds
NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS
TOTAL FUNDS BROUGHT
FORWARD
TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED
FORWARD		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
44,621
34,922
15,639
6,853
102,035
61,100
19,624
80,724
(3,201)
18,110
-
18,110
247,749
265,859		 Restricted
Funds
£
3,000
102,584
-
-
105,584
-
157,709
157,709
-
(52,125)
-
(52,125)
94,336
42,211		 Total
2024
£
47,621
137,506
15,639
6,853
207,619
61,100
177,333
238,433
(3,201)
(34,015)
-
(34,015)
342,085
308,070		 Total
2023
£
32,070
150,518
10,018
4,896
197,502
4
182,363
182,367
(13,537)
1,598
-
1,598
340,487
342,085

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BOLTON DEAF SOCIETY

BALANCE SHEET

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Notes
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible Assets
11
Investments
12
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors
13
Cash at Bank and in Hand
CREDITORS
Amounts falling due in one year
14
NET CURRENT ASSETS
NET ASSETS
FUNDS
Unrestricted
15
Restricted
15
TOTAL FUNDS		 2024
£
18,479
117,488
135,967
25,757		 2024
£
125,388
72,472
197,860
110,210
308,070
265,859
42,211
308,070		 2023
£
5,375
152,654
158,029
14,535		 2023
£
122,918
75,673
198,591
143,494
342,085
247,749
94,336
342,085

The notes on pages 33 to 41 form part of these financial statements.

For the year ending 31/03/24 the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies’ regime.

Approved by the Trustees and authorised for issue on 2nd October 2024

And signed on their behalf by:

Ms Rebecca Pickup, Chair of the Board

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BOLTON DEAF SOCIETY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

1. Accounting Policies

..

Basis of preparation

The Financial Statements have been prepared: under the historic cost convention, as modified by the revaluation of investments (as set out below) through the statement of financial activities; in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice – Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts and with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) effective January 1 2019 (second edition – October 2019); and the Charities Act 2022 and UK Generally Accepted Practice.

The accounts (Financial Statements) have been prepared to give a ‘true and fair’ view and have departed from the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 only to the extent required to provide a ‘true and fair view’. This departure has involved following Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued on 16 July 2014 rather than the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice effective from 1 April 2005 which has since been withdrawn.

The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS102.

The financial statements are prepared in £ sterling, the functional currency of the charity.

Estimates and judgements

The preparation of the financial statements requires management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported. These estimates and judgements are continually reviewed and are based on experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.

Income recognition

All income is recognised once the charity has entitlement to the income, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably. The following applies to particular types of income:

Grants , whether of a capital or revenue nature, are recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions have been met and it is probable that the income will be received.

Donations from individuals and other bodies (not being of the nature of a grant) are recognised when receivable.

Earned income is measured at the fair value of the consideration received or receivable for services and goods supplied, net of discounts and VAT.

Deferred income

Income is only deferred and included in creditors when:

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1. Accounting Policies (continued)

Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that the settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:

Costs of raising funds - including those associated with fundraising activities and managing investments

Charitable activities - costs of undertaking the work of the charity.

The charity is not registered for VAT and cannot recover any input tax charged. Costs are stated inclusive of VAT were charged.

Allocation of support costs

Support costs are those functions which assist the work of the charity either by supporting the delivery of charitable activities or by supporting the generation of funds. They include back-office functions, staff costs, management support, insurance and professional fees.

Pension contributions

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for its employees, agreeing the contribution rates with each individual. The contributions are paid to a third party (NEST Pensions) who invest the contributions in a money purchase plan. Contributions are charged to the SoFA as they become payable.

Tangible fixed assets and depreciation

Individual fixed assets costing more than £1,000 are capitalised at cost and are depreciated over their estimated useful lives on a straight-line basis as set-out below.

The leasehold land and buildings are held on leases dating from 19[th] century which are exceptional in that they are for 5,000 and 4,900 years. The Trustees have taken the view that given the length of the leases the cost effectively represents the value of the land on which the buildings sit. As land does not itself depreciate, and given the unexpired terms of the lease, it is currently equivalent to holding a freehold title, and therefore no depreciation should be charged.

Depreciation rates for other assets are as follows:

Fixtures and fittings 25% reducing balance Computer equipment 25% reducing balance

Investments, gains and losses

Fixed assets investments are a form of basic financial instrument and are initially recorded at their transaction value and subsequently measured at their fair value as at the balance sheet date using the closing quoted market price. The SoFA includes the net gains and losses arising on revaluation and on disposals throughout the period.

Gains and losses are taken to the Statement of Financial Activities as they arise. Realised gains and losses are calculated as the difference between sale proceeds (net of transaction costs) and the opening carrying value or cost, if acquired during the period.

Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due and prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid.

Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and in hand includes cash and short-term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

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1. Accounting Policies (continued)

Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement account.

Financial instruments

The charity has only basic financial instruments which are initially recorded at cost, and with the exception of investments (as set-out above) subsequently measured at their settlement value.

Statement of cashflows

Advantage is taken of the exemptions in SoRP not to present a statement of cashflows.

2. DONATIONS & LEGACIES

Other revenue grants
Bradshaw Gass Trust
Garfield Weston 24/25
Lloyds Bank 24/25
Grants – refurbishment &
furniture
Bradshaw Gass Trust
Clear Futures
Ford Britain Trust
Kirby Foundation
Liverpool & Skelton Charity
Manchester Guardian
Screwfix Foundation
The Albert Hunt Trust
Donations & legacies
Donations – General
Legacies
TOTAL		 Unrestricted 2024
Restricted		 Total
£
1,200
10,000
25,000
36,200
-
-
3,000
-
-
-
-
-
3,000
2,421
6,000
8,421
47,621		 Unrestricted 2023
Restricted		 Total
£
1,200
10,000
25,000
36,200
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
2,421
6,000
8,421
44,621		 £
-
-
-
-
-
-
3,000
-
-
-
-
-
3,000
-
-
-
3,000		 £
1,200
-
-
1,200
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1,080
-
1,080
2,280		 £
-
-
-
-
5,000
500
-
14,610
1,680
1,000
5,000
2,000
29,790
-
-
-
29,790		 £
1,200
-
-
1,200
5,000
500
-
14,610
1,680
1,000
5,000
2,000
29,790
1,080
-
1,080
32,070

35

BOLTON DEAF SOCIETY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

3. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
2024
Unrestricted
Restricted
£
£
Big Lottery Community Fund
-
25,000
-
25,000
Accessible Information Service:
Axis Foundation
-
-
Bolton's Fund
-
11,220
Eric Wright Charitable Trust
-
-
GM High Sheriffs Police Trust
-
-
Sobell Foundation 24/25
-
10,000
The John Slater Foundation
-
-
The Peter Kershaw Trust
-
-
-
21,220
Health and Wellbeing (including Sports and Social Activities):
Bolton Fund
-
8,541
Forever Manchester
-
-
The David Family Foundation
-
1,000
The John Slater Foundation
-
-
GMCVO
-
1,322
Marsh Charitable Trust
-
500
Provincial Walsh Trust
-
-
Salford CVS
-
2,000
UKH
-
-
UK Deaf Sport
-
3,000
The Zochonis Charitable Trust
-
5,000
-
21,363
Other grants:
Birkdale Trust
-
3,000
Bolton CVS: Employment
-
1,000
Bolton
CVS:
Scams
Awareness
-
6,300
The Postcode Neighbourhood
Trust
-
16,749
The Inman Charity
-
5,000
Toy Trust
-
2,952
-
35,001
Other income:
Interpreting
34,921
-
Café
1
-
34,922
-
TOTAL
34,922
102,584		 3. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
2024
Unrestricted
Restricted
£
£
Big Lottery Community Fund
-
25,000
-
25,000
Accessible Information Service:
Axis Foundation
-
-
Bolton's Fund
-
11,220
Eric Wright Charitable Trust
-
-
GM High Sheriffs Police Trust
-
-
Sobell Foundation 24/25
-
10,000
The John Slater Foundation
-
-
The Peter Kershaw Trust
-
-
-
21,220
Health and Wellbeing (including Sports and Social Activities):
Bolton Fund
-
8,541
Forever Manchester
-
-
The David Family Foundation
-
1,000
The John Slater Foundation
-
-
GMCVO
-
1,322
Marsh Charitable Trust
-
500
Provincial Walsh Trust
-
-
Salford CVS
-
2,000
UKH
-
-
UK Deaf Sport
-
3,000
The Zochonis Charitable Trust
-
5,000
-
21,363
Other grants:
Birkdale Trust
-
3,000
Bolton CVS: Employment
-
1,000
Bolton
CVS:
Scams
Awareness
-
6,300
The Postcode Neighbourhood
Trust
-
16,749
The Inman Charity
-
5,000
Toy Trust
-
2,952
-
35,001
Other income:
Interpreting
34,921
-
Café
1
-
34,922
-
TOTAL
34,922
102,584		 Total
£
25,000
25,000
-
11,220
-
-
10,000
-
-
21,220
8,541
-
1,000
-
1,322
500
-
2,000
-
3,000
5,000
21,363
3,000
1,000
6,300
16,749
5,000
2,952
35,001
34,921
1
34,922
137,506
Unrestricted 2024
Restricted		 Unrestricted 2023
Restricted		 Total
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 £
88,372
88,372
3,500
-
5,000
3,516
10,000
1,500
2,500
26,016
15,000
900
-
1,500
3,000
-
500
1,980
3,000
-
-
25,880
-
10,250
-
-
-
-
10,250
-
-
-
150,518		 £
88,372
88,372
3,500
-
5,000
3,516
10,000
1,500
2,500
26,016
15,000
900
-
1,500
3,000
-
500
1,980
3,000
-
-
25,880
-
10,250
-
-
-
-
10,250
-
-
-
150,518

36

BOLTON DEAF SOCIETY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

2024
Unrestricted
Restricted
£
£
4. INCOME FROM OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES
Courses Provided by BDS
9,495
-
Room hire
3,995
-
Other income
2,149
-
TOTAL
15,639
-
5. INVESTMENT INCOME
Income
from
listed
investments
5,464
-
Bank interest
1,389
-
TOTAL
6,853
-
6. COST OF RAISING FUNDS
Direct staff costs
15,620
-
Freelance
2,178
-
Other fundraising costs
5,535
-
Professional fees
200
-
Support costs
37,567
-
61,100
-
7. CHARITABLE EXPENDITURE
Salary costs
50,998
-
Freelance costs
13,555
-
Interpreters
42,934
-
Other direct costs
3,551
-
Premises
26,871
-
Volunteer expenses
490
-
Depreciation
(206)
-
Support and governance costs
39,140
-
Allocated to restricted funds
(157,709)
157,709
19,624
157,709
8. SUPPORT & GOVERNANCE COSTS
Support costs
Staff costs
37,567
-
Insurance
-
5,218
Office costs & other costs
-
20,749
37,567
25,967
Governance costs
Professional fees
-
13,173
-
13,173
Total support costs
37,567
39,140		 2024
Unrestricted
Restricted		 Total
£
9,495
3,995
2,149
15,639
5,464
1,389
6,853
15,620
2,178
5,535
200
37,567
61,100
50,998
13,555
42,934
3,551
26,871
490
(206)
39,140
-
177,333
37,567
5,218
20,749
63,534
13,173
13,173
76,707		 2023
Unrestricted Restricted Total
£
2,080
2,085
5,853
10,018
4,896
-
4,896
-
-
4
-
-
4
67,248
-
3,404
2,041
85,205
23
2,996
21,446
(261,606)
(79,243)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
261,606
261,606
-
3,959
11,199
15,158
6,288
6,288
21,446		 £
2,080
2,085
5,853
10,018
4,896
-
4,896
-
-
4
-
-
4
67,248
-
3,404
2,041
85,205
23
2,996
21,446
-
182,363
-
3,959
11,199
15,158
6,288
6,288
21,446

Costs that can be wholly attributed to either support or governance are allocated directly to those functions, and other costs are allocated either on the basis of the estimation of time spent (freelance staff) or consumption of resources (office costs).

Support and governance costs are then allocated between costs of raising funds and charitable activities on the basis of the estimation of the use of resources, using a standard percentage method.

37

BOLTON DEAF SOCIETY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

9. NET INCOMING RESOURCES AFTER TRANSFERS
This is stated after charging/(crediting):
Accountant/Independent examiner’s fees (inc VAT)
Report
Accountancy (including charges for prior year)
Depreciation charged on fixed assets
Directors’ remuneration & trustees’ expenses
10. STAFF COSTS
a
Staff costs
Salaries and wages
Social security costs
Pension costs		 2024
£
1,320
7,074
(207)
78
2024
£
101,663
492
1,553
103,708		 2023
£
1,000
3,947
2,997
-
2023
£
65,928
-
1,875
67,803

No employee earned more than £60,000 in either year

b Key management personnel

The key management personnel comprise the trustees and Chief executive. The trustees do not receive any remuneration for their services.

The average number of employees during the year was:
Charitable		 2024
Average
Number
7
7		 2023
Average
Number
6
6

38

BOLTON DEAF SOCIETY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

11. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS
Cost
As at 1 April 2023
Additions/(Disposals)
As at 31 March 2024
Depreciation
As at 1 April 2023
Charge for the year
As at 31 March 2024
Net Book Value
As at 31 March 2024
As at 31 March 2023		 Long
leasehold land
& buildings
£
120,000
-
120,000
-
-
-
120,000
120,000		 Fixture &
fittings
£
7,105
1,115
8,220
5,501
(41)
5,460
2,760
1,604		 Computer
equipment
£
5,938
1,149
7,087
4,625
(166)
4,459
2,628
1,313		 Total
£
133,043
2,264
135,307
10,126
(207)
9,919
125,388
122,918

An over depreciation in the accounts ending 31 March 2023 was identified and has been corrected in this year's depreciation figure.

12. INVESTMENTS
Market value brought forward
Additions at cost
Net gains/(losses)
As at 31 March 2024
Investments are represented by:
COIF Charity Funds
13. DEBTORS
Debtors receivable
Prepayments & other debtors
14. CREDITORS falling due within one year
Social security and other taxes
Accruals
Rounding		 2024
£
75,673
-
(3,201)
72,472
72,472
72,472
15,165
3,314
18,479
2,156
23,597
4
25,757		 2023
£
89,210
-
(13,537)
75,673
75,673
75,673
5,375
-
5,375
220
14,313
2
14,535

39

BOLTON DEAF SOCIETY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

15. STATEMENT OF FUNDS
Unrestricted Funds:
General fund
Restricted Funds:
Refurbishment & furniture:
Other funding
Big Lottery Community Fund
Accessible Information Service
Health and Wellbeing
Other grants
Total Funds		 Balance
01/04/23
£
247,749
247,749
500
38,829
16,667
24,730
13,610
94,336
342,085		 Income
£
102,035
102,035
3,000
25,000
21,220
21,363
35,001
105,584
207,619		 Expenditure
£
(80,724)
(80,724)
(3,500)
(63,829)
(27,887)
(45,593)
(16,900)
(157,709)
(238,433)		 Gains &
Losses
£
(3,201)
(3,201)
-
-
-
-
-
-
(3,201)		 Transfers
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Balance
31/03/24
£
265,859
265,859
-
-
10,000
500
31,711
42,211
308,070

Restricted funds carried forward

Accessible Information Service Health And Wellbeing Other grants

Future costs of service

Health, Sports, Social and Deaf Inclusion Projects Bolton Fund £3,550 for Scams Awareness Axis Foundation £3,500 for Scams Awareness Bolton Fund £1,960 for making the most of your hearing Toy Trust £2,952 for Youth Services Birkdale Trust £3,000 for Youth Services The Post Code Neighbourhood Trust for Youth Services £16,749

For the prior year
Unrestricted Funds:
General fund
Restricted Funds:
Refurbishment & furniture:
Loops
Other funding
Big Lottery Community Fund
Accessible Information Service
Health and Wellbeing
Other grants
Total Funds		 Balance
01/04/22
£
288,783
288,783
698
-
14,220
27,416
1,166
8,204
51,704
340,487		 Income
£
17,194
17,194
-
29,790
88,372
26,016
25,880
10,250
180,308
197,502		 Expenditure
£
(44,691)
(44,691)
(698)
(29,290)
(63,763)
(36,765)
(2,316)
(4,844)
(137,676)
(182,367)		 Gains &
Losses
£
(13,537)
(13,537)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
(13,537)		 Transfers
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Balance
31/03/23
£
247,749
247,749
-
500
38,829
16,667
24,730
13,610
94,336
342,085

40

BOLTON DEAF SOCIETY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

16. ANALYSIS OF COMPANY NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

Fund balances at 31 March 2024 are represented by:
Tangible fixed assets
Investments
Net current assets
Fund balances at 31 March 2023 are represented by:
Tangible fixed assets
Investments
Net current assets		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
125,387
72,472
68,000
265,859
122,918
75,673
49,158
247,749		 Restricted
Funds
£
-
-
42,211
42,211
-
-
94,336
94,336		 Total
£
125,387
72,472
110,211
308,070
122,918
75,673
143,494
342,085

17. TAXATION

The Company is a registered charity and is entitled to claim annual exemption from UK corporation tax.

18. CAPITAL COMMITMENTS

There were no capital commitments authorised and contracted for at the end of the year (2023 £Nil).

41