UK Council on Deafness

November 2006 Bulletin

In this Bulletin

• Governance Conference
• Conference Debate "The Deaf Organisation of the Future"
• All Party Parliamentary Group on Deafness
• Deaf Awareness Week
• Annual Conference & AGM 7 November 2006
• access to communication in english for deaf people

Tuesday 6 February 2007 at Britannia Street Conference Centre, Kings Cross, London.

For all Chairs, Trustees and Chief Executives of organisations working with deaf people, an opportunity for new trustees to learn about their responsibilities and for experienced trustees to bring their knowledge up to date. A unique opportunity to meet trustees from other organisations working with deaf people and to share experiences with each other.

Delegates from last year’s conference commented:

“I enjoyed all of it. Excellent presentations, clarity, stimulating, welcoming.”

“Excellent end session – for once did not want to rush off for early train!”

“Some good ideas about strategic planning – having direction but also being flexible.”

“Gained lots and lots. Good practice. Vehicles of communication were excellent. Everyone had a chance to take part.”

“Brilliant Network opportunities – consolidation or clarification and update of information already known.”

“Some useful thoughts on how our Governance could be reviewed.”

Sessions this year will include:

· Governance Essentials
· Charity Commission Review
· The Governance Hub
· Governance Reviews
· SORP 2005

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Conference Debate

“The Deaf Organisation of the Future”

The conference will end with a debate about how organisations working with deaf people will need to adapt to meet the changing needs of the modern deaf communities. Universal newborn hearing screening, Cochlear Implants, Digital Hearing Aids, Bi-lingual/Bi-Cultural Education will all influence the way that deaf children develop. The Internet, email, SMS and videophones are revolutionising the way that deaf people communicate. The closing of specialist deaf schools and the decline in attendance at traditional Deaf Clubs are changing the character of the local deaf communities. Organisations working with deaf people will need to be aware of the consequences of these changes to ensure that they remain relevant to their client group.

To book your place or for further information contact admin@deafcouncil.org.uk

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All Party Parliamentary Group on Deafness

The meeting with Anne McGuire MP, Minister for Disabled People, will now be held on Tuesday 19 December at 5pm. Anyone wishing to attend please contact Jonathan Isaac for further details - j.isaac@deafcouncil.org.uk

The Group’s activities in 2007 will start with a Deaf Awareness Training day to be held in the Houses of Parliament for MPs.

Full details of all of the group’s activities can be found at www.appg-deafness.org.uk

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Deaf Awareness Week

Deaf Awareness Week will be held on 7th – 13th May 2007 continuing with the theme Look-At-Me. The annual reception will be held during the week commencing 23 April so that it does not clash with elections.

Organisations that are planning events for the week are reminded to send us details so that they can be featured on the website.

We will be conducting a full review of the organisation of Deaf Awareness Week during 2007 ready for the 2008 awareness campaign. Any organisation wishing to participate in the review process please register your interest with Jonathan Isaac- j.isaac@deafcouncil.org.uk

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Annual Conference & AGM
7 November 2006

The 3rd Annual Conference was the best attended so far with 110 delegates. The conference got off to a great start with an interesting presentation from Bruce Calderwood, Head of the Office for Disability Issues, followed by the launch of the access to communication in english for deaf people Report. We were particularly encouraged by the positive response to the launch of the report from the ODI and look forward to working with them to implement the recommendations.

In the afternoon Father Cyril Axelrod gave a fascinating talk about “Deafblindhood”.

Supporting presentations during the day were given by CACDP, RAD, Deafax and SCoD.

At the AGM the members confirmed the appointment of Susan Daniels as Chair for a second year.

Amendments to the Memorandum and Articles were also approved which will lead to a slightly different process for electing and appointing Members of the Board. As a result there were no elections held this year but there will be vacancies next year and anyone considering standing for election to the Board is encouraged to do so. A call for nominations will be made in September 2007.

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access to communication in english for deaf people

The access to communication in english for deaf people report was launched recently at the Annual Deafness Conference.

Deaf people who require language and communication access services often receive a service that is far below the standard that they should reasonably expect. This means that there are literally hundreds of thousands of deaf people for whom the provision of language and communication access services is a right that they are denied. This lack of awareness amongst service providers, employers and deaf people themselves is exacerbated by the dire shortage of the professionals that provide language and communication access services. The report makes recommendations that are practical and achievable and will make a profound difference for the hundreds of thousands of deaf people whose preferred language is English.

The full report can be downloaded by clicking on the following link:

Ace Report (PDF document)

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Please submit information for the next UK Council on Deafness Bulletin by 20 December 2006.

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