2024-09-26-accounts

- 2023 2024 Annual Report

Foreword

This report summaries the activities, impact, opportunities and forward looking vision for DICE as we enter our second operating year.

Conceived in 2022 and delivering outcomes through 2023 and 2024 DICE (DEAF, INCLUSION, COMMUNICATION and ENJOYMENT) set out to achieve the following objectives:

• 1) To relieve the isolation of Deaf children during the school holidays

• 2) To promote communication in Deaf children

• 3) To advance Deaf awareness in the general public

DICE was established by Ryan Brewer who now sits as Chair alongside six Trustees who assist in overseeing governance and strategy. Ryan works as a Qualified Teacher of the Deaf in a school for Deaf children. Through this role he identified an opportunity to further outcomes for Deaf Young People in Greater Manchester through the provision of a ‘communication club’ during the Easter and Summer school holidays, where Deaf children are most at risk of communicative and social isolation.

Service delivery summary

In 2023 and 2024, DICE has delivered:

• Provided over 2,750 hours of holiday club provision for over 40 different d/Deaf attendees with activities including, art, crafting, cooking, games, outdoor play, bowling, trampoline parks and team building.

• Employed four Deaf teenagers on a part-time interim basis to help run Communication Clubs, whilst also providing an opportunity for them to gain work experience and access paid employment.

• Provided a much needed resource for d/Deaf children, their families and carers in Greater Manchester where their communicative social needs can be met effectively through targeted, meaningful support through a variety of communication modes (BSL, English and Sign Supported English)

Given the previous success of our Summer 2023 sessions and communicative needs of the children attending DICE sessions, it was deemed important to staff each day with adults who were familiar with working with Deaf children and had British Sign Language skills. Consequently, staff from Bolton Sensory Support Services, as well as the charity ‘Sign Health’ were recruited to assist the sessions.

This worked extremely well for different stakeholders attending the sessions:

• Previous attendees were familiar with DICE sessions. New attendees felt immediately comfortable with familiar peers and adults who could communicate effectively with them.

• Parents and carers continued to be reassured by the quality of care, communication modes and array of activities provided, as well as free transport for some attendees.

• Staff themselves were keen to offer their services to DICE again in 2024. DICE are particularly fortunate to be serviced by a staff team who are passionate about supporting Deaf children.

• DICE believes that the strategy of recruiting familiar staff and paying a fair, competitive salary is important in ensuring the long term recurring viability and success of the sessions. It is simply not viable to rely on such specialist voluntary time being available.

Activities between 26th September 2023 and 26th September 2024

Between the above dates, DICE provided 10 full days of extra-curricular opportunities to over 40 d/Deaf children and young people; all costs were covered including staffing fees, resource costs, food and drink, entrance fees and free transportation for attendees receiving Free School Meals. Activities included art, design and technology, crafting, cooking, games, outdoor play, bowling, trampoline parks and team building. Importantly, each activity day emphasised inclusivity and a focus on communication.

As previously, most sessions were hosted at a local community hall however a number of days were facilitated within the Bolton area at various activity locations. This was deemed important in order to boost awareness of the needs of Deaf children in the community whilst providing the children with an opportunity for new experiences and confidence boosting activities with the support of familiar staff and peers who could communicate effectively with them.

Community Outreach

Within our mission we seek to advance Deaf awareness within the general public. We have done so this year by bringing children out into community spaces to meet and mutually gain from such interactions with members of the hearing community. These activities included trips to a local trampoline centre, parks, restaurants and bowling alleys.

Social Media

Additionally, the activities promoted by DICE via our Instagram page continues to attract attention. Our follower base has grown nearly 50% from 160 to over 235 followers. . You can follow DICE using the handle ‘@dice.charity’.

Feedback

"I would like to thank the DICE activity team for the lovely summer club 2023. A had so much fun doing numerous activities, bowling and jump extreme. A always came home happy and couldn’t wait to go again the next time to see some friendly faces. Thank you for the Pick and Drop off service too.”

"James has had opportunities with after school clubs and unfortunately the lack of understanding when it comes to a person with hearing difficulties is quite frequent and he can sometimes struggle to hear and understand what is being asked, so the fact he could join in with something, that has staff trained to understand these difficulties was a well needed change. I do hope this is a club which continues to be offered to children with hearing needs.”

We encourage you to view further feedback from parents on our website.

Financial Summary

DICE raised a total of £24,695.22 for services delivered between September 26th 2023 & 26th September 2024.

This was broken into:

● Grants - £23,602

Broken down into:

• … National Lottery Community Fund: £13,855

• … Bolton CVS Grants: £9,747

● Private fundraising - £1093.22

Expenses

Expenses for our 2023-2024 Financial Year (26/9/23 to 26/9/24) totalled £15,319.82. (A breakdown of expenses can be seen on the next page).

leaving a surplus of £17,308.45 to be carried over and used into 2024 and 2025. This will include:

• x2 Christmas 2024 Events.

• x4 Communication Club days in Easter 2025

• at least x6 Communication Club days in Summer 2025

• funding for d/Deaf children and young people to be supported at other

extra-curricular activities including attending sporting events.

The Board of Trustees is comfortable with the expenses and surplus for this financial year given the increased operating costs associated with the:

• Increased number of Communication Club days provided

• Increased number of participants (circa +30%) compared with the previous reporting period.

• Requirement to employ additional staff due to increased participant numbers and specific medical needs of some attendees.

• Increase to the fee required by the venue

• Agreed increase to staff wages to reflect the increase in the UK Living Wage and cost of living crisis.

Breakdown of Expenses (26-9-23 to 26-9-24)

Expenses for the calendar year 2023-24 are categorised as follows:

• Transportation (incl. fuel): £481.26

• Venue costs: £1200

• Food and drink: £737.82

• Staffing: £7,518.81

• Resources: £1,023.39

• Entrance fees: £749.92

• Administration (incl: accounting, branding, payroll services, printing, communication devices, website management, insurance): £1,960.62

• Tax and National Insurance: £1648

Forward looking strategy

The Chair and Board of Trustees are very pleased with the outcomes achieved in 2023-2024. We strongly believe the mission statement has been met and in doing so, significant value has been created for d/Deaf young people who have been in receipt of DICE services.

It is our intention to mirror the 2023-2024 delivery model into 2024/25 but with the expansion of the service into one off events at Christmas and attending sporting and cultural events, as well as the existing sessions in the Easter and Summer breaks.

We look forward to growing our relationships with existing and new granting and fundraising partners whilst slowly growing the scale of services provided by DICE to deliver on our founding mission.

In addition, the Chair and Board of Trustees (in the case of receiving funding above the amount we expect to receive) will develop a plan to expand our service to enable and support Deaf young people when accessing extra-curricular activities put on by external providers.

Thank you for your support and interest in DICE and those we provide services for. We look forward to doing it all again in 2024-25!

Ryan Brewer

Chairperson