DELTA - Chattering January 2007

Deaf Education through Talking and Listening

Chattering - March April 2007

Stop press

We are having real difficulty trying to raise sufficient funds to hold Summer Schools this year. We need to find £40K before July and with the economic climate at the moment this is proving to be extremely difficult. We are working full pelt to try and raise money, please see our ideas below, but if you can help in anyway we would be extremely grateful…after all Summer Schools and helping families is what we’re all about.

If every reader of Chattering donated just £10 to sponsor one of our runners (see link below) we would raise over a staggering £8,000 which would help our appeal tremendously. Can you afford £10?

If you can please help

Thank you.

Dear All

Well I can’t believe that Easter is nearly here, where does the time go?! I have lots of things to update you with so here goes:

Karen with her Mum in their very fetching head gear!!

London Marathon - Sunday 22nd April

Look out for our 8 brave runners at the London Marathon, who will be wearing black running shirts emblazoned with a bright yellow DELTA logo.

One of our runners, Karen Strunks has been boosting her sponsorship by organising 2 collection days with her Mum. The first was at Shirley, Solihull where they raised £110, the second will be on Saturday 14th April in the centre of Birmingham, so if you see them make sure you drop some money in their tin!

Did you know that you can sponsor all our runners online. I think running just over 26 miles is a very good reason for sponsoring someone - don’t you? So please give generously and don’t forget to click on the gift aid box - for every £1 you donate we get an extra 28p if you are a UK tax payer.

Great North Run - Sunday 30th September

We are very grateful to everyone who is now training to run the BUPA Great North Run on 30th September on behalf of DELTA. Please sponsor their efforts online.

We still have more places available. If you would like to take part, please complete the entry form and the runner declaration and return them to DELTA, 3 Swan Court, Cygnet Park, Peterborough, PE7 8GX with a cheque for £55.

Bike Ride, Reigate to Brighton - Sunday 24th June

Sponsorship forms are now available for our very own Reigate to Brighton Bike Ride. Please enter if you can and get as many friends as possible to join in. We start off with breakfast which is very kindly provided by Connevans in Reigate and we finish at Ovingdean school in Brighton with more to eat, it’s worth entering just for the food alone!!!

If you feel you’re not up to the ride itself, can you help by manning one of the checkpoints? Or perhaps help at Ovingdean where some fun events are being planned.

Please contact Julia for more details.

Bike Ride, Altrincham to Speke - Saturday 12th May

This is being organised by Abi Cope, one of the North West team and will be following part of the Trans Pennine Trail. The complete route will be approx 50 miles following a circular route. Abi and her family and friends from Barclays did a similar route last year and Barclays matched their sponsorship which they’re hoping to get again this year.

We are also hoping to do a smaller route particularly for families and children who can raise some sponsorship and have fun at the same time. If you fancy joining in the main bike ride or kiddies event please contact Wendy for more details and sponsorship forms.

This is also being held in Deaf Awareness Week, so hopefully it will give us a chance to get some more publicity

Deaf Awareness Week 7th to 13th May -
Primary School Assembly Pack

We have created a pack specifically for Primary schools to use for an Assembly. This should be ready to download from the website after the Easter holidays. Please tell your schools about it, let’s promote talking instead of signing for a change!!

If you have anything planned for Deaf Awareness week please let us know.

Summer School Appeal

Enjoying BJ's Bistro
The men at the Bistro

BJ’s Bistro

Bill Boyce, one of our stalwart helpers at Winchester Summer School has been busy in the kitchen again and reopened “BJ’s” to arrange two dining evenings. One for the ladies (the first was held last year) and also one for the men – a curry and gambling night. Both customers and staff had a great time and raised £240.

Well done and a big thank you to Bill and all those concerned.

"Dress Down Day" at Barclays

Abi Cope works for Barclays and has persuaded her branch to have a “Dress down day” for DELTA. The last time they did this they raised just over £1000. Can you get your workplace to do the same? You and your colleagues come in casual clothes and pay anything from £1 to £10 for the privilege. It’s a very easy way of raising money.

Well done Abi

We’ve still got a long way to go to raise enough money for Summer Schools so please help us out , even if it’s putting a collection tin in your local newsagents.

For any ideas or more information on how to raise money or you have some ideas you’d like to share please contact Wendy

Regional News

Our new South West Regional Team: from left to right: Sally Robinson, Dorothy Sampson, Lisa & Stuart MacKenzie, Tamara & Niall Dixon (also on the team but not on the photo is David Molesworth.)

South West Region

We held a very successful Regional Day on Sat 3rd March in Taunton where 25 parents, grandparents, teachers of the deaf and deaf adults turned up. We now have a team for this area headed by Dorothy Sampson who agreed to become the Regional Coordinator. The team are holding their first meeting on 4th April where they are hoping to arrange some events for the region….watch the calendar on our website for more news

Dorothy is mum of Jenny who is now 4 and has been profoundly deaf since birth. The whole family attended Winchester Summer School two years ago and found the whole experience invaluable.

West Midlands Region

Unfortunately the meeting scheduled for March 10th had to be postponed but we are hoping to set up another date in Telford as soon as possible. If you are able to help in any way in this region please contact Wendy

Other items

New Literature

Copies ofour new introductory leaflet, “Deaf Children Can Listen and Talk”, are available. The simple message to parents is that there is every chance that their deaf child can learn to listen and talk and that DELTA can help with information and advice. We are hoping to get it out to all Audiology Clinics , ENT clinics, Toy libraries, Children’s centres etc across the UK. If your clinic hasn’t got them on display, please let us know and give us their address or we can send you a supply to distribute.

Please contact us if you would like copies for yourself or your friends.

Charity of the Year

We’d like to thank Juliette Grefe for making DELTA the charity of the year of Advanced Concept Consulting Ltd, we’re grateful for their support.

“Developing a Listening Ear” Conference

This is being run in conjunction with Now We’re Talking, an umbrella organisation consisting of DELTA, The Ewing Foundation and The Elizabeth Foundation, which promotes deaf children talking .

The Conference is being held at the Arlington Arts Centre, Mary Hare, Newbury from 9th -11th July and will be aimed at professionals. There is more information on the Mary Hare website.

DELTA T Shirts/Sweatshirts/Bags for Sale

We have a wide selection of DELTA items for sale. The shirts and sweatshirts are extremely hard wearing, come in a variety of colours and sizes and promote DELTA at the same time.

Connevans Pink Clock

In the last issue we asked for your stories and pictures and in return we will enter you for a draw. The winner will receive a new pink alarm clock that vibrates, kindly donated by Connevans and is very up to the minute. The closing date for entries is 30th April, so email us now for your chance of winning.

Any Questions?

Do you have any burning questions regarding issues relating to deafness? Perhaps we can help.

A Mum from Bolton has asked how she can get coloured Hearing aids for her 4 year old son. She has asked her audiology clinic but they have just shrugged their shoulders.

So for those of you who have got brightly coloured hearing aids ,and we know they’re out there, how did you get them? Or how did you persuade your audiologist to get them?