ABOUT OUR GROUP

Brighton, Hove & West Sussex Deaf Children's Society was formed 14 years ago by a group of parents who realised the need for a group in this area. The group has gone from strength to strength and now has over 150+ members - some professional but mostly families.


The committee of eight is run by parents of deaf children who meet every six weeks to discuss the future of the group and to plan events for the children and their families.


Many of the children either attend schools far away from their home and therefore after school contact with their peers is very difficult or are in mainstream schools where they have no contact with other deaf/hearing impaired children. We help support groups such as a Youth Club for deaf children in Crawley and the very successful pre-school groups Springboard in the North and South of the county.


The past year alone some of the events we have organised include trips to Laserhub, Banger Racing, Quad Biking, The Spectrum at Guildford, our AGM at Fishers Farm, Annual Party, Panto trip, Bluebell Railway and a Group holiday, all of which we always pay for the deaf children and subsidise the cost to family members.


We rely entirely on donations and the generosity of people wishing to support us and with their kindness we are able to fulfil our QUEST.

If you would like more information about our group please leave a message on 07717 223362 or email us at bhwsdcsoc@btinternet.com and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Sunday, 7 October 2012

Hogwarts, Quidditch and lots and lots of Broomsticks!



Wow wow wow what an AMAZING time we all had at The Harry Potter Studio Tour yesterday.   55 of us went by coach or car (no broomsticks) and were completely dumbstruck by this amazing event. We look forward to receiving some more photos from members to post, so please make sure you email them to us asap.   June

Friday, 3 August 2012

Yummy Yasmine



£153.30!!!!!! 


That's the whopping amount young Yasmine earned at her amazing Cake Sale she held at Northgate School, Crawley. Well done Yasmine and thank you from everyone xx

Friday, 20 July 2012

London 10K Run

Once again we took part in the London 10K Run. Our team captained by our Treasurer, Peter Phillips. This year's team was fraught with injury and we wouldn't have been able to send a team if Peter and regulars Bev Benfell and Paul Simmonds hadn't been joined at the last minute by Erzsebeth Kakas, Eric Shoubridge and David Wilkes. A massive thank you to everyone who took part and to Peter for once again organising a very successful fund-raising event. As soon as we know we'll let you know how much they raised. Here's a photo of some of the team.



Sunday, 15 July 2012

AGM - Minutes


ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
BRIGHTON, HOVE & WEST SUSSEX
DEAF CHILDREN’S SOCIETY
THE TOP HOUSE PUB
10TH JULY 2012


Present:          Kim Thompson
                        Peter Phillips
                        Louise Simpson
                        June Garner
                        Gill Davison
                        Bella Austen
                        Anna-Marie Bennett
                        Julie Phillips
                        Carolyn McCabe
                        Wilf Bridges
                        Tina Bridges
                        Richard Austen
                        Jan & Paul Penkert
                        Seamus Nugent

Welcome by Kim –

Welcome

Thank you for coming along to our 16th Annual General Meeting, good to see you.

As we stated in our invite we had decided to the cost to keep the AGM small this year due to financial costs so hopefully we won’t keep you too long.

I don’t need to introduce the Committee to you as you are all aware who we are!
This has been my second year as Chair and it has been another successful year.
Since last April through to this April we have once again tried to organise events that cater to all ages, not always an easy task.  But we I think we managed it with some being firm favourites such as the Spectrum, holiday and Chuckle Bros and a very popular trip to see The Lion King in London.
As always we are still on the lookout for more committee members, so if any of you fancy rejoining the Committee we would love to have you back!
Finally I would just like to say a big thank you to the rest of the committee who have helped me keep my head above the water and for their time, hard work and support over the past year.

Treasurer

Treasurer’s Report
Our charity is run solely by volunteers, who give up a tremendous amount of time from their busy home and working lives. They organise, as you have heard, a wide range of activities. The funding of these activities is raised mainly from special fundraising events at various times of year.

After the success of the signed song performances in the spring we decided to try it again. It proved to be another success raising people’s awareness, whilst raising £544.

The London 10k run has grown in popularity with 25,000 entrants and more than 30,000 spectators. Our team for this year was Bev Benfell, Nichola France, Jackie Denyer, Dan Simpson, Paul Simmonds, Carl Phillips, and trying to keep up, me! The Team of seven managed to raise a fantastic £1741. Which was a great achievement as it was definitely a first for some. A special thank you to Jackie Denyer - she stepped in at the last minute, after Sarah Maynard had had to drop out through injury.

Sarah determined to do her bit for the Group ran The Great South Run in October and raised £197 for us.

The final fundraising event of the year is a fantastic opportunity for many of our members to get involved and join in the Christmas spirit with the Xmas Carol Signing. This has been a great success as it gives members the opportunity to join in locally with other members, have fun, raise money, and sometimes to freeze for a great cause. Their great efforts raised £878 this year.

We have also received many kind donations from businesses and private individuals over the course of the year. These are all very much appreciated as they do help us to offer a wide range of activities and help to our members.

The fundraising and donations totalled just under £5500. This is a fantastic effort by the few people who put themselves out to give something back to the Group. As the membership increases it is all the more important that members make the effort to support us so we can continue to subsidise and organise events, and offer support where we can. So it just remains to say a big thank you from the Group for the efforts made in the past and for continuing to volunteer and support us in the future.

THANK YOU
Peter Phillips

ELECTION OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Kim seconded by Carolyn McCabe
Peter seconded by Tina Bridges
Louise seconded by Julie Phillips

Rest of the committee agreed to stay.  

Louise asked if anyone interested in joining.  The committee emphasised the need for new members to the committee.

AOB

  • Anna-Marie hopes to hold a ‘cream tea’ to raise funds for the group later in the year.

  • Julie suggested holding a meeting to welcome new members into the group.  

  • Kim suggested approaching Springboard to get new members involved and maybe a committee member or member to go along once a term.   There was then much conversation about how to reach other families with deaf children in West Sussex.

  • Jan Penkert suggested a 100 Club.

  • Possible trip - Go-Karting at Deers Leap, East Grinstead




Sunday, 20 May 2012



Deaf Awareness Week May12 - The Martletts, Burgess Hill. We raised £270 - thank you to everyone who turned up to shake a bucket, thank you to the people of Burgess Hill who gave so generously and clapped, thank you to The Martletts who allowed us to do our thing! It was really great fun, hard work for the few of us signing, but we've raised just over £500 for the group

Tuesday, 15 May 2012

DEAF AWARENESS WEEK - SIGNING SONGS AT HAYWARDS HEATH RAILWAY STATION.

A big thank you to Katie who came to shake a bucket for us and a very big thank you to all the commuters who generously gave £214 to our group.   This Saturday 19th May we will be signing at The Martletts, Burgess  Hill between 10-1pm.   The money we raise goes towards the events we organise and enable us to subsidise and/or offer free places.   If you could spare even 30 minutes it would be great.


Sunday, 4 March 2012

ATTENTION ALL RUNNERS!



This year's London 10K Run will be held on Sunday 8th July and we have 5 places available, this a big fundraiser for us so if you would like to take part to raise money for the group we would love to hear from you or if you know of anyone who likes to run then please let us know asap.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if would like more information about this

Re: Children’s Hearing Services Working Group (CHSWG)

We are a newly formed Children’s Hearing Services Working Group for West Sussex and we would be grateful if you could send this to all your members. We are looking for parent representatives to attend meetings. 

Meeting will be held on the following dates although parents will not necessarily have to attend all:

Wednesday 25th April 2012 10am – 12.00

Thursday 27th September 2012 10am – 12.00

To be held at:

Sensory Support Team,
West Sussex County Council,
Northern Area Office,
Broadbridge Heath,
Worthing Road,
Horsham,
RH12 3LZ

Please find attached details of training events and information on the role of the parent representatives. If any parents are interested please could they contact me on the number above.

Monday, 30 January 2012

DIARY OF EVENTS FOR 2012


BRIGHTON, HOVE & WEST SUSSEX DEAF CHILDREN’S SOCIETY
DIARY OF EVENTS 2012

MONTH
EVENT & DATE
ORGANISER & CONTACT DETAILS
January
15TH – CIRCUS STARR
Kim – (07717) 223362



February
12th – Laserhub, Crawley
Kim – (07717) 223362



March
4th – Funplex Soft Play
11th – Lion King, London
Bella - (07717) 223362
Louise – (07717) 223362



May
5th – Chuckle Bros, The Hawth
Louise – (07717) 223362

12th – possible Charity night Details to be confirmed
June – (07717) 223362

Song Signing DA Week
Dates TBC
Kim – (07717) 223362
                     


June
23rd – Sailing Taster Day
Details to be confirmed
June – (07717) 223362



July
8th – LONDON 10K RUN
Peter – (07717) 223362

14th – AGM – Venue to be confirmed
Kim – (07717) 223362



August
Dates TBC – Park/Beach Meets
CONTACT TBC




September
16th – Spectrum, Guildford
TBC
Kim – (07717) 223362




October
Group Holiday – To be confirmed.
Louise – (07717) 223362



November
25th – Christmas Party TBC
Kim – (07717) 223362



December
Christmas Song Signing – Please contact us for venues/dates
Kim – (07717) 223362

Panto, The Hawth TBC
Louise – (07717) 223362


As is the case each year these are a list of the events that we are planning – we cannot guarantee that the events will take place.  If you would like further information please call us on the number above or email us on bhwsdcsoc@btinternet.com

Saturday, 19 November 2011

Our First Fundraiser - Asda, Crawley


Our wonderful Choir of Signers and the fantastic Bucket Shakers.   We will announce how much we raised today once it's been counted.   A fantastic effort by all - a big thank you to those that turned up today.    Thanks to Liz, Becki and Gill for leading and Louise for our new QUIET fleeces.   Next date is Saturday 26th November in The Martletts, Burgess Hill.  See you there!

Thursday, 13 October 2011

Alton Towers - September 2011

In September a full coach of members visited Alton Towers for the weekend.   Here are some of the photos - if you have more please forward them to us!










Tuesday, 26 July 2011

Congratulations to Savannah!

Well what can we say about our very very very wet AGM at Fishers Farm??? How about, it was so good to see so many families!!!!!!! Thank you for all turning up and we hope you had some fun. Kim gave a brief talk about all that the group has achieved this year. Pete told us of the excellent achievements of our 10K runners, raising so much money for the group and a big thanks to Gill for leading another big fund raiser, the Signed Carols/Deaf Awareness Week.

Heather Fletcher, NDCS Family Officer, South East Coastal Region came along to present the Alastair S. MacMillan "You're A Star" award.




Savannah was nominated for the Alastair S. MacMillan "You're A Star" Award, by her lovely Mum - this is what she said:

At school, Savannah put herself forward to be a "Support Student" (something akin to a prefect).  This is a highly coveted position, yet Savannah took the application and interview process very seriously, put in an excellent application form, and was invited for interview (with the Deputy Head, school governor, and Head of House.... very daunting, I imagine).  I prepared her for disappointment, knowing that the competition would be tough, and said that she'd done really well to be invited for interview, and that alone was a huge achievement etc etc.  I need not have worried as Savannah 's star quality shone through  and she wowed them at the interview and was successful in being one of the 20 appointed.  Well done Savannah !









Monday, 20 June 2011

Well we might just give ourselves a pat on the back!

Thank you to those of you who completed the questionnaires and sent them back - here are some of the comments members have made:

Fantastic job, keep doing a great job. Thanks.

We think the events are fun, friendly and inclusive.

Think you do a fantastic job!

We enjoy everything the group does and appreciate the effort that goes into it.

I believe the Committee do a fantastic job. I for one appreciate everything you do especially as you are all volunteers and do this in your own time.

'really friendly, active and caring local group - a model for other local groups. Well done on everything you've achieved'

Sunday, 19 June 2011

Invitation to the Annual General Meeting at Fishers Farm Park

***INVITATION***

You are invited to our 15th Annual General Meeting
On Sunday 17th July 2011
At Fishers Farm Park, Wisborough Green
11.00am

The Annual General Meeting will start at 11.00am prompt and should last for no longer than half an hour.  After the meeting you will be free to use Fishers Farm and all its facilities for the rest of the day.  Please note that the group will pay for all members who arrive by 10:45am but unfortunately not for those who arrive after that time.

The Agenda for the meeting will be as follows:

Welcome & Introduction of the 2010/2011 Committee
Chair’s Report
Treasurer’s Report
Election of Chairperson, Treasurer & Secretary
AOB
Presentation of the You’re A Star Award
Close

We look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible as Fishers Farm is always a popular event whatever the weather! 
  

Saturday, 21 May 2011

The Wheels on the Bus didn't go round and round but stopped at Northgate School

We had lots of fun at the Listening Bus last Saturday - it is amazing the technology that is available for our children.   The big hit of the day was the blue tooth system for mobile phones (says the adult), but if you ask the children it just had to be the balloon lady!

Sunday, 8 May 2011

We're Up and Signing!!!!!!

Two dates down and so far we've raised £500!

Last Tuesday (3rd May) we raised £147 at Brighton Railway Station.   This Saturday we raised £423 at The Martletts, Burgess Hill.    Great news and a great effort, many thanks to those that turned up.

This Thursday (12th) we are at Haywards Heath Railway Station - 6pm til 8pm - and YES!  we still need bucket shakers!!!!!

Also check out our Facebook page - Brighton, Hove & West Sussex Deaf Children's Society - we'll be updating both this Blog and Facebook page with all the latest news.

Wednesday, 4 May 2011

Our First Fundraiser - Brighton Railway Station

Hi all, here is our video of our very first signing event at Brighton Railway station last night.   We're don't know how much we raised as we've not had time to count yet.    As you can see there was only a few of us and we had to hold the buckets while we signed - but commuters were very kind and the favourite song that got everyone stopping to watch was Imagine by John Lennon.

This Saturday we're at The Martletts, Burgess Hill - 10am-2pm - please come along and shake a bucket!

Looking forward to seeing you.

Sunday, 1 May 2011

Come Sign with Us

This Tuesday - 3rd May - we hold the first of our Modern Signing Sessions at Brighton Railway Station. We desperately need you to boost the ranks as response from members has been very poor - once again, I remind you that this is the only time we ask you to help the group.

Brighton Station
6-8pm
Tuesday 3rd May

Looking forward to seeing you!

Sunday, 3 April 2011

Dancing on Ice the QUIET way!



Our most recent event took us to The Spectrum in Guildford.    Some brave budding Torvill & Dean's amongst us took to the ice whilst the more sensible of us took to the coffee bar!    This was followed by family bowling.    A good time had by all - well nearly all....   poor Lisa had to visit A&E on her return and has now a very fetching boot and co-ordinating crutches.   Hope it's not too painful Lisa!