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Annual Report and Financial Statements 2015–16
Welcome to our Annual Report for 2015–16
We’re very proud of the substantial progress we’ve made this year in meeting
our core objectives: providing support and care, developing technologies and
treatments, and campaigning for equality for those confronting deafness,
tinnitus and hearing loss.
A particularly significant achievement was the headline-grabbing campaign we waged
against the hearing aid cuts proposed by several NHS clinical commissioning groups (CCGs)
across England. We successfully persuaded eight to continue to provide hearing aids for all
who need them. Unfortunately we didn’t persuade North Staffordshire, so we expect this fight
to continue. Staff and volunteers are ready to take action.
We provided high-quality, person-centred, culturally appropriate care and support
services to more people who are deaf with additional needs, than ever before. The
Community Care Market News ranked us in the top 20 of younger adult residential care
providers, as we were 100% compliant with Care Quality Commission (CQC) standards.
We extended our hearing aid support services so that we could provide practical support
to more people in more parts of the UK. In other areas we had to fight to protect existing,
invaluable services. Our local services provided information, advice and life-changing,
face-to-face support to thousands of people, on over 150,000 occasions.
We established new employment services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland so that
people who are deaf or have hearing loss can benefit from targeted, specialist employment
support – and have a better chance of getting a job. It is a national disgrace that those who
suffer from hearing loss in all its forms are far more likely to be unemployed. We’re working
hard to tackle this problem.
We invested £1.6 million in biomedical research. Although scientific progress can be
slow, our research has, over the last few years, resulted in groundbreaking discoveries and
advancing promising new treatments. We launched a new Partners in Action scheme, in
which we work with manufacturers to develop technology that could be used – or improved
– to support people confronting deafness, tinnitus and hearing loss.
We successfully launched a major report, Hearing Matters, in all four parliaments and
assemblies; politicians across the spectrum endorsed our findings and recommendations.
We worked hard to influence national governments and local commissioners to take
hearing loss seriously.
We refreshed our brand: we now have a more consistent look, feel and message, so more
people can connect with our cause and understand how we can help.