SW England & Channel Islands local groups

For contact details of your local group, contact our helpline team.

We do not currently have any information about this group. For further information, or if you are from this society, please contact NDCS Membership Services by calling 020 7014 1140) or emailing localgroups@ndcds.org.uk

The Moonrakers Deaf Children’s Society is a committee run by parents and deaf adults with the purpose of providing fun social activities for deaf children from all over Wiltshire.  We aim to provide a strong network for our children and their families through social events.

Established as recently as November 2007 we already have fantastic families and volunteers involved in the charity. The children of Wiltshire are very involved in our charity and we’ve asked them to design our logo through a competition.

Social events that we are providing are:
• A visit to a Pantomime where we have provided a BSL interpreter
• Easter egg hunt
• Bowling
• Picnic at the beach
• Weekend away in the UK for families
• Halloween and Christmas parties

Fundraising events are as follows:
• Skydives
• Summer black tie ball and auction
• Quiz nights
• Garage sales
• Signing Christmas carols all over Wiltshire throughout December

We welcome all deaf children irrespective of their level of deafness and method of communication.

If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact:

Kate Revere
Secretary
Email: kj@pops3d.co.uk
Phone: 01225 867230
Mobile/text: 07775808570

We do not currently have any information about this group. For further information, or if you are from this society, please contact NDCS Membership Services by calling 020 7014 1140 or emailing localgroups@ndcs.org.uk

"Welcome to the 'Dorset Deaf Children's Society'. Membership is free for all families with a deaf or hearing impaired child living in Dorset, or for supporters of deaf children and their families in Dorset. We are a registered charity who organise social events and provide monetary grants and equipment for deaf and hard of hearing children up to 18 years of age and their families, living in Dorset.

"As a registered charity we rely entirely on donations. All our committee members are volunteers who either suffer from a hearing loss, have a family member with a hearing loss, or work with hearing impaired children.

 "We are also able to provide grants and equipment to outside bodies where it would benefit deaf and hard of hearing children in Dorset. The main criteria for claims is that the grant will directly benefit a deaf or hard of hearing child up to 18 years of age and living in Dorset. Recent grants have included a fax machine for a family so they can receive communications from their deaf child at boarding school. We have also funded the provision of information leaflets at audiology clinics in Dorset. We have also been pleased to help some of our deaf children's parents with the cost of sign language courses at their local colllege / adult education centre recently."

Events this Summer 2008

Are you aged 12 - 18 years?
Would you like to try Waterskiing?
at Ellingham Lake, Ringwood
Saturday 5th July 2008
Limited place so contact us if you would like to meet up with other deaf or hard of hearing people, meet old friends or make new ones, and have a great time!

Thorpe Park - 20th July 2008
Please contact us for more details if you would like to book a place

Farmer Plamers - 10th August 2008
and
Christmas Party 29th November 2008

For more details please contact:                                           

Go to our website at www.dorsetdcs.co.uk     

Email us at info@dorsetdcs.co.uk 

Or telephone our Chairman, Martin Ring on 01305 260 351 or our membership secretary Shirley Sorbie on 01202 571 089

"East & Mid Devon Deaf Children's Society is a committee run group made up of parents, deaf adults, and teachers of the deaf.

"The society's aims are to provide help and support for deaf children and their families on speech & language, education issues, and hospital equipment. We also raise awareness of deaf issues within the hearing community, support all means of communication, and ensure optimal amplification for all deaf children.

"We organise various regular events for all ages of children from Easter Egg hunts, to bowling, picnics, skiing lessons, and signed pantomimes. These events are so important not only for deaf children but for their siblings too. Most of all, our group is about having fun, enjoying each others' company and having great discussion. We welcome membership from any family, friend, or professionals working with deaf children."

Mrs Anne Liversidge
Tel: 01392 874133
Email: aaliversidge@aol.com

Mr Nigel Herring
Tel: 01392 469899
Email: pyneatherring@aol,com

Upcoming events in 2007:

September 7 - Weekend away in caravans
October - Skiing
December - Carol signing & Christmas party
January - Signed pantomime

We are also in the process of organising a series of talks. Speakers include: 'Phonak on New Eterna Hearing Aids', 'Corcul on Cochlear Implants', and  'Mr Merrich on Dreamway Charity'

We are pleased to introduce you to our society. We have been supporting deaf children and their families in the Exeter and South Devon area for over 40 years, and still support a very active membership. We believe strongly in the benefit offered by enabling families to meet socially on a regular basis. Our main aim is to support our deaf children, to develop effective communication, and to offer every support we can to enable them to develop to their full potential.

Although we have very serious aims, we try to achieve these in a sociable manner which enables all of our members to particpate, and receive mutual support in the process.

Our committee meetings every second month, at officers own homes, and at present we have twelve active committee members, and we subsidise the cost of entry from the society's funds and by arranging group discounts. Our normal outing costs our members only £2.00 each.

We have been running a youth group for our teenagers for the last twelve months, with 16 active members, and teenagers have to decide which activities they would like to attend, supported by three of our committee members. They have recently enjoyed rock climbing, carting, paintballing and ten pin bowling.

Every year we try to arrange a social holiday, such as a weekend caravan break. We find these to be very popular, and they give our new members a great chance to meet and talk to our older members, who are always pleased to offer support and advice.

The society has financed signing evenings for members, and this year several of our members, including five children, passed the stage 1 BSL course. In September we have arranged our own BSL stage 2 course, to enable them to progress even further.

As with all charitable organisations we are continually looking for opportunities to raise funds to support the societies activities. We have been very fortunate that over the last ten years we have benefitted from National Lottery grants totally over £125,000 which have enabled us to buy computers, and other specialist equipment. To arrange society holidays to London, and Euro Disney, and to fund numerous other smaller projects for the benefit of our members. We do however encourage our members to support our annual Christmas Signing fundraising activity, which regularly raises between £1500 and £2000, which funds the societies regular events for the whole year. 

We always try to make new members welcome, and our committee members work very hard to try and ensure our activities offer the opportunity for all of our members to get involved. We only ask that new members appreciate that the society is run by volunteers, who are usually parents of deaf children themselves, and that the activities are also arranged for their benefit."

We have always found that the more effort our members put into getting involved, the greater benefit they receive. If you are living in our area please contact us, the first event you attend is free, and if you decide to join us, our family membership is only £5 per year, which is usually less than the savings you get by attending one of our regular outings.

For more information contact is or visit or website:

"The North Devon Deaf Children's Society is a well-established service providing a comprehensive range of club activities for deaf children and their siblings.

"Plymouth Deaf Children's Society covers the city of Plymouth and the surrounding rural areas of the South Hams and edge of Dartmoor.  We are an active group, with events for all ages.

"Since the New Year we have had a January Bowling evening at which the Julie Bazley Shield was presented to 12year old Laura for her progress and determination despite the fact that not only is she profoundly deaf but suffers from diabetes. She was a great inspiration to a family friend who was recently diagnosed with diabetes. The Shield is awarded each year to a deaf child who has shown some particular achievement during the year and is nominated by a sponsor.

"We have continued with our monthly ski nights and during the Easter break our members enjoyed a visit to the Plymouth Aquarium."

For further information please contact: 

Jane Thomas -Chair
Email:  jneTHMSjane@aol.com

or

Jo Samanovic - Secretary
Email: s.jo@blueyonder.co.uk

"This year

• We paid the travelling and eating expenses for teenagers attending a fantastic music and science workshop in Basingstoke with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. This was a day out for any Somerset-based deaf Key Stage Three student – invitations were circulated by teachers of the deaf in Somerset
• We paid for classroom assistants to travel to the excellent training for cochlear implants support offered by Southampton Cochlear Implant Centre and to Exeter for language development courses run by DELTA
• We paid for crèche facilities for a parents' training day in Taunton
• BSL signed story books were purchased for an early reader in Frome
• We recently arranged to pay towards soundproofing a nursery (with beautiful orange fireproofed curtains) for a youngster in Yeovil
• A music group for deaf pre-schoolers will have new musical instruments bought by Somerset DCS funds. At the moment this music group meets in Taunton but there are plans for them to travel to other parts of Somerset if parents are interested in supporting the events. Parents should contact their teacher of the deaf if they are interested
• Early in the new year a new signing support group for young people will be started in collaboration with Social Services and Somerset DCS will help with the initial expenses

"We have received donations from parents who had done sponsored t riathlons, from members of the Wellington lipreading class, from raffles organised by the teachers of the deaf at their training days, from a BP employee who nominated us for matched funding and from coffee mornings.

"We are very well supported by the teachers of the deaf in the Somerset Hearing Support Service who circulate and advertise our events and help co-ordinate donations and requests for funds.

"Although we are very good at spending money we are not very good at attracting parents to our group meetings. Our last AGM had only six adults (while the children had a fully paid up bowling evening). Our previous AGM had only five adults at a day out in Longleat.

"We will be organising our next AGM early in the new year and will circulate information to all the children and parents on our mailing list. Ideally we would like a social secretary to step forward from the parents to organise events that they would like to attend. And we will pay for the event!"

Local Group Contact:

Val Bingham - Chairperson
Email:  thenbinghams@tiscali.co.uk
Phone: 01934 521117