Dyslexia and Dyspraxia Support (DADS)
Trustee’s Report
The Trustees presented the Annual Report together with the financial statements of the Charity for Year Ended 31[st] March 2024.
Objectives and Activities
Objects and Aims
DADS offers a non-threatening base where people with learning disabilities and their families can vent their difficulties and their frustrations. It is primarily a self-help group with parents supporting each other to understand and be able to assist with the difficulties faced by young people with a learning disability. We liaise with local schools, the Education Authority, the Psychology Service, the PSNI to try and create a better understanding of Special Educational Needs. We are a point of contact for parents who are bewildered by their child’s condition. We try to access funding so that we can provide activities which are not available through the statutory system. We offer training courses, lectures and seminars, personal development, confidence building, anger management and at the same time recreational activities such as canoeing, wall climbing, outdoor pursuits, trampoline, all of which are benefit to individuals with Specific Learning Difficulties. We try to keep up with the latest research into these conditions and to access technological specialist equipment which is made available to our members. Mostly however, we exist to help break the taboos surrounding educational disability.
Public Benefit
The public benefit flowing from the purposes of DADS are that individuals suffering from learning disabilities but particularly Dyslexia and Dyspraxia are helped to understand their condition, to accept their condition and where possible to improve their condition. Their parents and extended families of these individuals also benefit from being able to access assessments, workshops, lectures and conferences delivered by experts in the field of learning disabilities. The schools benefit because the teachers have access to the conferences, courses, and workshops delivered by DADS so that they can improve their own knowledge about these disabilities and therefore improve the way that they can understand and teach such pupils. The Education Authorities benefit because they can direct families where they can meet together and feel comfortable with each other and with DADS members. They can also participate in a variety of games, recreational activities where they will be valued and not judged as a result of their disability. The whole community benefit because there is an organisation which understands and proactively assists the individual and their families who suffer from a learning disability. These benefits are measured by the numbers of individuals attending the workshops, the training sessions, the lectures, the conferences, the recreational activities, or the self-help evenings. Feedback is gained in a variety of ways. Evaluation forms are distributed at of our lectures and conferences. Feedback is also obtained from focus groups made up of both young people and their parents. Individuals with learning difficulties assist in planning the activities each year. Teachers also give feedback as to the performance of individuals that we have targeted for in-depth assistance and support. There is no harm flowing from the activities of DADS except that we are occasionally limited by lack of funding as to how much assistance we can offer individual families.
The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the requirements of section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public guidance published by the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
Structure, governance and management
Nature of governing document
Constitution
Dyslexia and Dyspraxia Support (DADS)
Trustee’s Report
Financial Instruments
Objectives and Policies
The Charity’s activities expose it to a number of financial risks including credit risk, cash flow risk and liquidity risk. The use of financial derivatives is governed by the charity’s policies approved by the Board of Trustees, which provide written principles on the use of financial derivatives to manage these risks. The Charity does not use derivatives financial instruments for speculative purposes.
Cash Flow Risk
The Charity’s activities expose it primarily to the financial risks of changes in foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates. The Charity uses foreign exchange forward contracts and interest rate swap contracts to hedge these exposures.
Interest bearing assets and liabilities are held at fixed rate to ensure certainty of cash flows.
Credit Risk
The Charity’s principal financial assets are bank balances and cash, trade and other receivables, and investments. The Charity’s credit risk is primarily attributable to its trade receivables. The amounts presented in the balance sheet are net of allowances for doubtful receivables. An allowance for impairment is made where there is an identified loss event which, based on previous experience, is evidence of a reduction in the recoverability of the cash flows.
The credit risk on liquid funds and derivative financial instruments is limited because the counterparts are banks with high credit ratings assigned by international credit rating agencies.
The Charity has no significant concentration of credit risk, with exposure spread over a large number of counterparts and customers.
Liquidity Risk
In order to maintain liquidity to ensure that sufficient funds are available for ongoing operations and future development, the charity uses a mixture of long-term and short-term debt finance.
Further details regarding liquidity risk can be found in the Statement of accounting policies in the financial statements.
The annual report was approved by the Trustees of the Charity at the AGM on Tuesday 28[th] January 2025 and was signed on behalf by:
Gerry Lynch
Chairperson