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← Waltham Forest Dyslexia Association

2024-08-31-accounts

Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2024

Registered charity: 802993 www.wfda.org.uk

63 Ruby Road London E17 4RE

Waltham Forest Dyslexia Association Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2024

Patron David McLoughlin
Trustees
Chair: Vacant_(from May 2024)_
Shân Copeland_(Chair from_ Nov 2023 to May 2024)
Lois Hood_(to Nov 2023)_
Vice-Chair: Katherine Hewlett
Secretary:
Vacant
Treasurer:
Elly Pearce
Other trustees: Marcia Brisset-Bailey Katherine Marshall
John McMenemy Sadia Mirza
Carol Newnham_(Safeguarding)_ Heather Symonds_(from May 2024_)
Staff, Tutors, Support & Bank
Children’s Programme Manager:Karen Sparkes
Class Tutors:
 Carolyn Browne Dawn Budd
Maxine Johnson Rosemary Jolliffe
Kathy Payne_(to Mar 2024)_ Sheena Penfold
Linda Witham
Screening:
 Lois Hood Debra Lewis_(from Nov 2023)_
Katherine Marshall Elly Pearce
Transition Summer Club: Maxine Johnson Kathy Payne
Adult Groups: Katherine Hewlett Marcia Brisset-Bailey_(to May 2024)_
Lois Hood_(to Nov 2023)_ Sadia Mirza
Website:
Jane Walker
Helpline Volunteers: Lois Hood_(to Nov 2023)_ Debra Lewis
Elly Pearce_(emails)_
Finance Volunteer: David Pearce

Bank: CAF Bank, West Malling, Kent

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Waltham Forest Dyslexia Association Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2024

Trustees’ Annual Report

ADULT WORK

During this financial year, the following services have been delivered: the adult screenings, the monthly Adult Meetups, Advocate talks and the Neurodivergent Advocate Leadership Programme (NALP). The numbers of participants and service users have grown exponentially and include national and regional attendees. People can either regularly attend the sessions or drop into their session of preference. We are still able to provide our services free of charge, which makes them fully accessible.

WFDA is a chosen charity of the current Mayor of Waltham Forest (Councillor Sharon Waldron). We are grateful for her support. Advocates have attended two of the Mayor’s events in August and September 2024.

Screenings

The screening can be a powerful experience for our participants as the information revealed means gaining much greater knowledge about who they are. The first stage of screening is carried out over the phone. The second type of screening is in more depth covering a range of neurodiverse learning differences including dyslexia, ADHD and autism. This type of screening is completed via Zoom. After the screening participants receive a report of the outcomes and some recommendations for the future. The checklist usually takes about 15 minutes. The longer screening takes between 45 minutes to an hour – with several longer than this. Occasionally there are face-to-face screenings - this has been with vulnerable people who have not been able to manage the computer. Screenings have been in Leytonstone Library, and in a hostel for the homeless.

From September 2023 to August 2024 there were 29 full screenings and 79 checklist screenings. For the longer screenings, all participants had overlapping differences. With some people, there were two learning differences but others presented with several. The report writing takes about a day. The report letter works for Access to Work. Some people have used it in their Personal Independence Payment (PiP) application. For some people it is for the workplace. For others it is a stepping stone to a fuller assessment often for people who are about to embark on a degree.

People who wish to be screened come to us in a variety of ways. For some people it is just because they want to know as they have always thought they are Neurodivergent (ND) and the screening is a confirmation. Some people come on the recommendation of their GP or another health professional. People who have been screened are invariably happy with the process. We receive many positive comments which mention how it has helped them understand their learning differences and how it has helped them to move on to channel these learning differences into a more constructive outcome. Many of our Advocates have been screened by WFDA and have benefited from this greater knowledge about themselves and their way of thinking.

WFDA would like to thank Lois Hood for all her work for the adult screening.

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Trustees’ Annual Report (continued)

Adult Meetups

WFDA Adult Meetups are on Zoom with sessions lasting 1.5 to 2 hours. There is a regular attendance of 20-30 neurodivergent adults. A Zoom invite is sent out three days before the event to 170 people on the WFDA database. There are flyers for each event, which are posted on the WFDA website. In addition, we use Jisc mail, Facebook and Instagram to raise awareness of our work. Many participants contact us through word of mouth, our partnerships and through the screening service, which can often be a progression route to our Zoom sessions. Our Zoom license is funded by the National Lottery.

Meetup sessions have been as follows:

Advocacy Project work

This was the second and final year of the Advocacy Programme supporting the mental health of neurodivergent (ND) and funded by the National Lottery Partnership Fund. A partnership project delivered by WFDA and AchieveAbility (AA). The

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Trustees’ Annual Report (continued)

purpose of the programme was to bring ND people together and build strong relationships across communities, and to enable more people to fulfil their potential by working to address issues at the earliest possible stage. There were nine advocates. This project was from February 2022 to February 2024 (£22,000). The programme included screening for adults.

This WFDA report covers final year from September 2023 to March 2024 (7 months)

The final Advocate led sessions were:

These sessions developed our Neurodivergent advocates into highly skilled speakers. The Adult Meetups and the Advocate work were programmes integrated for a sustainable future for adult work at WFDA. This is to ensure sustainability after the National Lottery funded programme with adult meetups delivered once a month. The nine advocates were drawn from a wide range of experiences and backgrounds. All Advocates were assessed as being neurodivergent and their expertise covered fields such as: Town Planning, Well-being, Legal knowledge, Assistive Technology, Psychology, Social Work, Speech therapy, Social Media, Marketing and Retail.

Advocate key evaluation points:

The Neurodivergent Advocate Leadership Programme (NALP)

These key points informed our next successful application to the National Lottery Awards for All from May 2024 to May 2025 (£9,260): The Neurodivergent Advocate Leadership Programme (NALP)

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Trustees’ Annual Report (continued)

The project aims to develop leadership skills building on our successful Advocate project for wellbeing and strengthening ND communities. We have a set of six training sessions for Inclusive Leadership to equip Neurodivergent Adults to navigate employment with leadership skills. The training will strengthen self-awareness, emotional intelligence and skills for leadership with neurodiversity as a core value. The sessions will train nine advocates to train others in this leadership approach - "Training the Trainer".

We plan to use our learning to shape future projects in Advocacy and Inclusive Leadership. This is a project that is building on our previous work around advocacy.

This programme will develop leadership thinking that is inclusive of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). This training will raise awareness of the unique perspectives ND adults have. Through advocacy and leadership, we aim to increase understanding of how effective ND leaders can be for neuro- majority colleagues. Their unique perspectives can contribute hugely to success whether in education, training or employment.

Please see our recent film of our Advocates' discussion on the role, impact and the benefit of inclusive leadership: https://youtu.be/ZylCrQ9R7Oo.

Also the skills of our advocate presentation: https://youtu.be/NsSiqDS0J8E

The Training sessions are:

There will be two Zoom dissemination events in February and March 2025, and a face-to-face dissemination event in Waltham Forest Town Hall in April 2025.

WFDA would like to thank our Advocates: Alicia, Rose, Jennifer, Andrew, Maddie, Dee, Sadia, Andre, Kenyah and Becky.

Virtual work

This work has now generated a WhatsApp group to continue and strengthen these

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Trustees’ Annual Report (continued)

voices for advocacy. In this way, we aim to ensure the lived experience is truly supported by positive role models drawn from our ND community.

Our Facebook page is regularly updated by a dedicated Trustee. WFDA would like to thank Sadia Mirza for this work

WFDA has taken the opportunity to develop its website. Thank you to Jane Walker who continues to support us very well with this work.

WORK WITH CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

WFDA continue to provide essential support to children and young people who are dyslexic. WFDA currently has six tutors providing excellent in person numeracy and touch-typing lessons and online literacy support classes to students.

WFDA has seen 58 students attending tailor made classes that are engaging, fun and extremely supportive to the children and their families. These students come from a range of backgrounds and areas including those living within the borough of Waltham Forest and beyond.

WFDA in-person touch typing classes are continuing to successfully operate from two different locations within the borough of Waltham Forest. WFDA want to thank Henry Maynard Primary School and Walthamstow School for Girls for the generous support as they allow WFDA touch-typing classes to take place on their premises for free. WFDA would not be able to deliver these vital classes without their support!

One touch-typing students said that

WFDA are part of the Jack Petchey Foundation Bronze Award scheme and as such receive funding £300 three times per year. This money is ringfenced and must be spent on resources or activities that support WFDA. The last award winner chose to spend the money on an end of year celebration party for the touch-typing students where they all received a medal and certificate to recognise their hard work and commitment.

In June 2024 WFDA Children’s Programme Manager conducted a questionnaire asking parents and children using WFDA support classes to share their views about WFDA and the impact it is having. The questionnaire revealed just how important and effective WFDA online and in person support classes are having on the students and their families which can be seen in the following data and comments:

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Trustees’ Annual Report (continued)

When asked what two words the children would use to describe the support classes, the following words scored highest:

Describing their WFDA lessons,

People shared that they felt WFDA was:

Further comments included:

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Trustees’ Annual Report (continued)

As you can see the children and parents really value the work, we do here at WFDA. The tutors are flexible and have a caring approach to teaching and supporting the students with 75% of parents stating that WFDA has helped to support their child's mental health in a positive way.

We want to take this opportunity to thank the amazing tutors for their flexibility, professionalism and genuine care for the students, and The Three Oaks Trust, who continue to provide generous funds and support to enable the classes to remain operational.

The continuous support has meant that WFDA has been able to achieve the following:

In June 2024 the WFDA applied to Tesco’s ‘Stronger Starts Grant’ and as a result WFDA was nominated for the Tesco’s Golden Grant Award, and in October 2024 received £5,000 for children’s classes !!!

In summary it has been another financially challenging but successful year, with classes remaining opening and tutors providing a fantastic service. Parents and students have expressed their appreciation of the ‘lifesaving’ support that classes provide. We thank the families, students, tutors and funders for their dedication and continued support.

Special thanks to Karen Sparkes, our Children’s Programme Manager, for her input over the last seven years, We congratulate her in recently qualifying as a dyslexia specialist tutor, and wish her well as she moves on to new challenges.

SCREENINGS

Our team of screeners this year was Elly Pearce and Debra Lewis (primary), Katherine Marshall (secondary) and Lois Hood (adult). All the team are dyslexia specialists who have completed assessment training, and consequently are able to give a specialist view, rather than just a simple result from the computer programmes or from the other assessment tools used.

As we have continued without suitable premises Elly did 38 and Debra did 5 primary screenings at home during the year. On the website, parents are encouraged to contact Elly Pearce by email. In some cases, she has spoken to parents and given ideas of how to work with schools or to progress to full assessment. Screening is an

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Trustees’ Annual Report (continued)

important service particularly for the under 8 age group as they are too young for full diagnostic assessment. It can give parents and schools information on how to best help the child.

Katherine Marshall has carried out 27 secondary screenings from her home during the year and will continue to do so. For secondary pupils this can often mean advising if extra time in exams would be helpful. Her details are om the website so she can be contacted directly.

We are continuing to use the LUCID screening tools with school aged pupils as before. The primary age ones are online but the software for older pupils has not been updated to online. We ask for donations of £50 or what they can afford. We do not want anyone to be excluded on grounds of cost although most in fact do pay the full amount. The majority of students we see are from Waltham Forest schools, but we also have some from Hackney, Newham, Redbridge, Dagenham, Loughton and occasionally from further afield such as Harlow. This is because they would not find a similar service offered in those areas. Some Waltham Forest schools refer pupils to us but most self-refer. We haven’t delivered any screenings in school this year, probably a sign of the pressure on schools for funding.

We no longer have a backlog of screenings, and they can usually take place within a few weeks of the initial contact, sometimes sooner. We continue to offer screening as a service for those for whom the cost of a full diagnostic assessment is prohibitive. Sometimes parents do go on to full assessment for their child, adults too and we can give ideas of where they might go, but this is with the knowledge that it is worth spending the money or saving up for.

The screening for adults is described in the section on Adult Work.

SUMMER TRANSITION CLUB

Introduction

The Summer Transition Club 2024 was the sixteenth Summer Club, the first of which was held in 2008. The main idea of the Summer Transition Club is to support Year 6 students in their transition to secondary school when they become Year 7. Each year, the children enjoy the week and gain greater confidence in their transition to secondary school.

At the start of the spring term, invitations to the Summer Transition Club went out to all Year 6 children in our WFDA classes, local primary schools and the SEND Facebook. Despite every effort to advertise the Summer Club, the number of children who attended was very low. In addition, we have found over the years that secondary schools also run their summer transition sessions at the same time as WFDA’s Summer Transition Club. This caused some of the students to drop out or attend on fewer days. Unfortunately, we also encountered difficulties finding tutors to

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Trustees’ Annual Report (continued)

run some of our sessions and decided to run them ourselves. In the long term, this has saved WFDA some money.

The Children

This year, the club was attended by four girls and three boys. It worked out well that we had a small group of students because the parents reported that most of them had a history of anxiety, and many of them were hyperactive. The students came from varied ethnic backgrounds. Learning difficulties were defined in the main as dyslexia. One of the students did not have dyslexia but was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. A few of the children have comorbidities.

The students came from four different primary schools. Five students went to schools in Waltham Forest, one student went to a school in Redbridge, and one student went to a school in Tower Hamlets. Five students will attend Secondary Schools in the borough of Waltham Forest, while the other two will be attending school in Tower Hamlets or Redbridge.

Activities

The most popular activity was swimming. During the swimming session, the students were given free time in the pool and supervised by the Sylvestrian Centre staff. Floats were put in the pool, and it was a fun session.

Carol Cameron ran the cooking session and guided the students in making delicious cookies. They all saved some of their cookies to share with their families. For the art session, the children were introduced to grid drawing and painting as well as sketching. This session was run by Cara, one of our volunteer mentors. The students were delighted to take their work home.

Kathy and Maxine ran the dance session. The students were introduced to various dance moves, which they incorporated into their own dance routines. They also ran the sports session. The students took part in various team games on the field area, which is located across the road from the school.

Other activities involved the children choosing their group’s name and designing their own crests to portray their strengths. The students were also given the opportunity to look at a typical secondary school timetable. They were given an idea of how a twoweek timetable works in secondary schools. They were also shown how their day may be set out between different lessons, which would be held in different classrooms with different teachers. In addition, they were shown the type of equipment that they may need for their various lessons and how they could organise themselves for the day. The mentor was invaluable in sharing her knowledge of

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being in secondary school and could answer questions and allay some of the children’s worries.

The main classroom activity involved the students discussing a story relating to starting secondary school that was read to them. Then, they did hot seating to get a better idea of how the characters were feeling. The children created a storyboard using pictures and short sentences to follow this up.

Awards

At the end of the week, there was an awards ceremony, the aim of which was to congratulate the children on their achievements during the week. Each student was given a certificate of attendance. The students prepared and presented an overview of their week and showcased their creative work to their parents, as well as performing a dance which they had jointly created.

Student/Parent Evaluations

At the end of the transition summer club, we asked the students and the parents to evaluate their experience of the week.

Most responses were positive, apart from one student who found it difficult to accept kindness and friendship from the others. Most students said they enjoyed the overall experience of coming to the Summer Transition Club and feel more positive about transferring to Secondary School since attending the club. All students said their favourite activity was the swimming session.

When asked what we did well and what could we do better, here are some of the student's responses:

We also received feedback from seven parents. Their feedback was also very positive , with all parents saying that their child enjoyed the week very much and their child felt more positive about going to secondary school due to their experience.

When asked if the club provided the support needed by your child and, if not, what would you have liked us to have done differently, here are some of the students' responses:

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Trustees’ Annual Report (continued)

When asked to comment on any aspects of this week that your child did not enjoy or found difficult, their replies were as follows:

Thanks to our Supporters

We are grateful to Forest School for accommodating WFDA’s Summer Transition Club and our two volunteers, Janice and Cara.

The Future of the Summer Transition Club

Unfortunately, this year may well be the last Summer Club, since it seems uncertain as to whether Forest School will be able to accommodate our summer club in the future. Also more secondary schools are running their own transition sessions.

SAFEGUARDING AND CHILD PROTECTION

Safeguarding and Child Protection and Safeguarding Adults are taken very seriously at WFDA.

Safeguarding is what we do to prevent harm, while child protection is the way in which we respond to harm. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, not just those who regularly work with the children and adults.

We have safeguarding and child protection policies and procedure documents, that are regularly updated, with the last update in May 2023, which is still current. We also have recently approved a new Safeguarding Policy for Adults (September 2023), for our growing work with adults, some of whom would be considered as ‘adults at risk’ (previously known as ‘vulnerable adults’). There are separate designated safeguarding officers (DSO) for both children and adults and a dedicated email address for safeguarding concerns, which can be found on our website.

Safeguarding is a set item on the agenda of both trustee and tutor meetings.

All tutors and screeners and anyone working with children have enhanced DBS certificates and these are regularly checked and updated. Our umbrella company for DBS checking remains as Atlantic Data. DBSs are valid for 3 years and people are encouraged to sign up to the DBS Update Service so renewals can be easily checked. There is no legal requirement for DBS screening for those working with the adults over the age of 18 years that we engage with, as we are not involved in ‘regulated activities’ with them, however our adult lead does have a valid enhanced DBS.

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Trustees’ Annual Report (continued)

Tutors and screeners receive regular safeguarding training and British Values training, including ‘on-line safety’, as our classes remain mainly online and will do for the foreseeable future. Our tutors and screeners are vigilant in their approach to safeguarding and child protection and this year no concerns were raised with our DSO.

Our Adult Safeguarding Lead works closely with our DSO and this year raised one concern regarding an adult at risk, which was then passed to the appropriate external agency to progress. WFDA continues to support this adult within our adult services.

TRUSTEES

Waltham Forest Dyslexia Association (WFDA) is a registered charity governed by its constitution as an Association. The constitution sets out the Association’s objects as to advance the education of persons who are dyslexic, provide support and information, and advance the education of the public to make society more dyslexicfriendly.

The honorary officers of the Association and not more than twelve other trustees are elected at the Annual General Meeting of members. The trustees may co-opt other persons to be trustees, provided that the number of co-opted trustees does not exceed one third of the total number of trustees.

RESERVES POLICY

The WFDA Reserves Policy is to maintain sufficient level of reserves to enable normal operating activities to continue should a shortfall in income occur and to take account of potential risks and contingencies that may arise from time to time.

In order to make a judgment on the amount of reserve the Trustees have considered the risks in respect of expenditure, unrestricted income and where appropriate restricted income. Also taken into consideration are any external identified potential major risks to income and expenditure during the year under consideration.

After reviewing our current position the trustees have decided the following:

This policy will be reviewed annually by the trustees.

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Trustees’ Annual Report (continued)

PUBLIC BENEFIT

The trustees have complied with their duty to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance when exercising any powers or duties to which the guidance is relevant.

SUMMING UP

As a final note, we would like to thank all our members, parents of our pupils, adults who take part in our adult groups and other friends for their continuing support of our fundraising and other activities. We are also grateful to our members who gift aid their subscriptions and donations enabling us to reclaim tax they have paid. Thank you to you all for your interest, support and commitment to WFDA now and in the future.

Katherine Hewlett Vice-Chair of Trustees 5 November 2024

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Waltham Forest Dyslexia Association Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2024

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Waltham Forest Dyslexia Association Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2024

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Waltham Forest Dyslexia Association Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2024

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Waltham Forest Dyslexia Association Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2024

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Waltham Forest Dyslexia Association Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2024

Independent Examiner’s Report to the members of the Waltham Forest Dyslexia Association for the year 1 September 2023 to 31 August 2024

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Charities Act”) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

Basis of independent examiner’s report

My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair’ view, and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner’s statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

have not been met; or

Zita Derbak MAAT AATQB Independent Examiners Ltd Unit 2 The Broadbridge Business Centre Delling Lane Bosham PO18 8NF 6 November 2024

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