UK Council on Deafness

September 2009 Bulletin

In this bulletin:

Communitybuilders Fund
SignHealth - Deaf people and domestic violence
The Ear Foundation/PHONAK virtual conference
The Big Care Debate
Equality 2025
Trial Emergency SMS text service
BSMHD - Social and Emotional Development in Deaf Children
The BSA - Stakeholder consultation
International Literacy Day, 8th September

Communitybuilders Fund - Open from 7 September 2009

The Adventure Capital Fund has confirmed that the Communitybuilders Fund will be open for applications from 7 September 2009.

The fund will provide loans, grants and mentoring support to help empower citizens and communities by strengthening community-led organisations across England through a mixture of financial and advisory support.

The Fund is organised into the following three investment packages:

A development package providing bespoke business support based on an initial needs assessment and leadership grants of £2,000 for staff development and training.
A feasibility package offering further business support of up to five days and grants of up to £20,000 to use towards project development of a growth plan. Grants of up to £75,000 and 30 days of support will be available for larger projects.
An investment package for organisations ready to develop, grow and expand their role within the community. Investment will consist primarily of loans between £50,000 and £2 million, offered at 5% for an initial three year period of a ten-year loan term.

Applications are welcomed from non-profit, multi-purpose, inclusive community-led organisations (sometimes known as Community Anchors), which are operating at a neighbourhood level.

Organisations can register their interest at any time, via the Communitybuilders website.
Click here for links to the relevant website/scheme guidelines and GRANTfinder report

SignHealth - Deaf people and Domestic Violence

We bring to your attention an event that is taking place on 12 October in London. This is a workshop on Deaf people and Domestic Violence. The event organised by SignHealth will examine the how abuse manifests itself differently in Deaf culture and how many violent situations are overlooked. It will be lead by Susan Gonzalez from DeafHope in America. Ideally the event will attract professionals involved in Domestic Violence services (eg police, legal professionals, child protection authorities, refuge providers) as well as Deaf people. So please do circulate as widely as possible.

As places are limited, people are asked to register their interest.

Please click here for further details (leaflet in pdf format)

The Ear Foundation/PHONAK Virtual Conference
Round the world in 15 hours: Future challenges for hearing technologies: Date : 29th September 2009
Duration : 1 day
Venue : The Ear Foundation
Cost : £35.00

The conference will be appropriate for all those involved with deaf children and adults, using the latest hearing technologies

Speakers will include: Teresa Ching, Graeme Clark, Kristina English, Paul Govaerts, Ruth Litovsky, Michal Luntz, Mark Lutman, Hannes Maier, Marc Marschark, David McAlpine, Gerard O’Donoghue, Jim Patrick (Cochlear), Angela Pelosi, David F. Rätz (MED-EL), Jerry Schloffman (Advanced Bionics), Neelam Vaid and Yum Zheng

Schedule of presentations:
Please click here to see the schedule in UK and local time

For further details visit: http://www.earfoundation.org.uk/education/articles/502

Or book online via the link belowhttp://www.earfoundation.org.uk/education/articles/502

The Big Care Debate

The Government has published Shaping the Future of Care Together, beginning the first ever national debate on the reform of adult care and support in England - the Big Care Debate. The Big Care Debate runs until 13th November.

The Government is inviting everybody to comment on the reform options and say which ones they would like to see adopted. Please click on the following link for further details http://careandsupport.direct.gov.uk/greenpaper/

EQUALITY 2025: EQUALITY FOR DEAFENED PEOPLE

The Attached pdf document (requires Adobe reader 9) gives an overview of the work being carried out by the Government to develop and progress the Equality 2025 vision that: "by 2025, disabled people in Britain should have full opportunities and choice to improve their quality of life and.…be respected and included as equal members of society".

It is essential that deafened people and their support service organisations shall make their needs known to Equality 2025 and other relevant legislation changes. It is a pathway for significant progress but may achieve very little for deafened people without their involvement. Please see the consultation meeting (23^rd September 2009) (word format). There are only a limited number of places so it is vital that you book by 9^th September 2009, Communication Support available will be Speech To Text Reporting and a loop.

Please contact Hearing Concern LINK for further details on info@hearingconcernlink.org

Trial Emergency SMS Text Service

Register from 14^th September to be part of a trial Emergency SMS text service www.emergencySMS.org.uk please see user brief (pdf format)

It is vitally important that everyone can get swift help in an emergency. So RNID and BT, along with the mobile network operators, O2, Orange, 3 and Vodafone, and the emergency services, have developed a UK-wide system which will allow you to send an SMS text message to the 999 emergency services from a mobile phone.

Full user trials will begin on 14 September and people with a hearing loss are needed to help test the service by using it if they need to make a real emergency call.

If you would like to take part in the user trial you can register your mobile after 14 September. You can either:

Visit www.emergencySMS.org.uk
Or, text ‘Register’ and send it to 999

You will be sent terms and conditions and, once you have accepted these, you will be able to use the service to make emergency SMS text calls.

Please note, you will only have access to this service for the duration of the trials and, unless you register your mobile, you won’t be able to use SMS text to contact the emergency services.

If this trial is a success then it is hoped that the new service will be launched in 2010.

BSMHD -Social and Emotional Development in Deaf Children

Tuesday 6th October 2009 - 10 am to 4.00 pm
Alcuin Research Resource Centre, University of York

A Deaf Children, Young People and Family Service Conference in collaboration with the British Society for Mental Health and Deafness. A one day conference for mental health professionals, Teachers of the Deaf, Deaf Children and Youth Workers, Equality and Diversity Officers, parents and carers and all professionals with an interest in social and emotional development in deaf children.

Presentations

What child focused interventions improve social and emotional outcome? Does a new national service have a role to play? – Barry Wright, Consultant Child Psychiatrist at the Deaf Children, Young People and Family Service.

The Hearing Outcomes Project and social and emotional outcomes. – Colin Kennedy, Professor in Neurology and Paediatrics at the University of Southampton School of Medicine.

Social and emotional issues for parents: parent centred interventions and professionals’ responses to family needs. – Arlene Brown, Consultant for Intervention and Education Programs, Marion Downs Hearing Centre, Boulder, Colorado, USA.

Workshops

1. Materials from the Hearing Outcomes Project – Colin Kennedy
2. Useful strategies to Engage Parents – Arlene Brown

Question Time with a Panel of Speakers

Conference Chair – Jonathan Isaac, General Secretary, BSMHD.

Delegate Fees: Standard £75, BSMHD Member £55.

Exhibition space available.

This programme is provisional and subject to change.

Directions available at www.york.ac.uk/inst/arrc/directions.htm

The British Society of Audiology announce the stakeholder consultation on a draft of a new good-practice guidance document for audiology:

“British Society of Audiology Recommended Procedure for Ear Examination”

It is anticipated that this document will be used to inform practice by a wide range of professionals who conduct, or in some way evaluate the conduct, of ear examination (including otoscopy). It is also anticipated that the document will provide evidence towards the development of high-quality services and the evaluation of service quality.

The document and response form can be accessed from their website at www.thebsa.org.uk

The consultation extends from now until the 30th September 2009. Responses received after this time, or not using the response form, will not be considered.

International Literacy Day, 8th September 2009

ITV SignPost is celebrating International Literacy Day with a special addition to www.signedstories.com .

Log on to ITV’s free storytelling website www.signedstories.com, on Tuesday September 8 to share the award-winning children’s picture book Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman and Caroline Binch presented with British Sign Language, animation, text and sound.

“Signed Stories was developed as a response to a report from the National Deaf Children’s Society warning that poor literacy disadvantages deaf children much more than hearing children.

Please send information for the next Bulletin, by 30 September 2009, to:
UK Council on Deafness, Westwood Park, London Road, Little Horkesley, Colchester, CO6 4BS.
Email: info@deafcouncil.org.uk

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You can find our vision, mission, aim and objectives. The history of the Council and details of how we are governed, our board of trustees and how we are funded.

We have 102 member organisations listed in our Members Directory. There are many benefits of membership and it is very easy to join.

We produce a monthly bulletin and a weekly parliamentary report. The latest issues are available here along with an archive of recent issues.

Direct access to Press Releases, Contact details and Quick Facts for journalists.

We have a full diary of events planned for 2008. We run Conferences and Seminars which anyone can attend, and Special Interest Forums for our members.

We produce a number of Publications of interest to those who work with deaf people, including the Good Practice Guide, Setting up a Deaf Users' Forum and Proceedings from our Conferences.

Whether in Brussels, Westminster or in the devolved countries and regions, wherever decisions are being made that affect deaf people our members are lobbying for change. Ongoing campaigns that we are working with our members on include the Access to Communication in English, Promoting the use of British Sign Language and Access to Health Services.

Whenever government consults on proposed new legislation that affects deaf people we co-ordinate a joint response from our members.

We co-ordinate the national Deaf Awareness Week which was on 4th - 10th May 2009..

We are a national agent for the Department of Health Opportunities for Volunteering Scheme and distribute grants each year to deaf organisations. Details of how to apply and a list of the projects we are funding this year.

Organisations that do not qualify for membership can affiliate to the Council in order to access our information and support. There are different sections for Voluntary Organisations, the Public Sector and Corporate Sector. Affiliation is very easy and there are lots of benefits.

Contact us
UK Council on Deafness, Westwood Park, London Road, Little Horkesley, Colchester, CO6 4BS.
Telephone 01206 274075
Text 01206 274076
Fax 01206 274077
Or send us an Email info@deafcouncil.org.uk

"ACTION BY WORKING TOGETHER"