MERSEYSIDE_SOCIETY_FOR_DE - Accounts

The last year has seen our team rise to the continuing challenges of Covid whilst making great steps forward in our development and resilience programme. Collectively we have faced the same issues as our peers in Deaf charities and the Health and Social Care sector – maintaining frontline services, the challenges of recruitment and adapting our service delivery model by opening up online services. I am proud of how the Board, staff team and volunteer workforce have pulled together for the benefit of our communities.

I’d also like to thank our Deaf Community groups across Liverpool and Wirral for once again proactively raising funds for the charity and working alongside us to reach out to vulnerable and isolated community members.

Our specialism is our ability to provide services for Deaf and Deaf-Blind individuals who use BSL, Deaf-Blind Manual and Deaf-Blinds Hands on Signing, Sign Specific English or International Sign Language as their first or preferred language. In a Covid world where proximity and touch creates risk, it again raises the awareness of the unique needs and isolation of our Deaf-Blind community and the commitment and care our frontline staff show on a daily basis.

In January 2021 we welcomed Joanne Parr as our new Chief Executive Officer. Joanne joined us from The Deaf Health Charity SignHealth and brought eight years’ experience of partnership and business development at national level. Prior to her involvement in the Deaf voluntary sector Joanne had many years’ experience within Local Authority, Social Housing and Community Empowerment roles.

We saw some changes at Board level this year. In May we welcomed John Brennan to our Board. John brings a wealth of senior management and fundraising experience to the Board having been a former CEO of both Cumbria Deaf Association, MSDP and a Director of UK Council on Deafness. This year we said goodbye and thank you to Bob Davies who resigned in November having made a significant contribution to our Board and charity.  We also sadly said goodbye to Reverend Hannah Lewis who stepped down from our Board in July 2021. It must be noted that Hannah has made an outstanding contribution to both the charity and the Community and she will be greatly missed.

Our communities are central to our charity and during 2021 we began our pivot back towards projects that bring real social benefit. This work will continue and develop over the next financial year. Highlights included:

• Review and improvement of our volunteer recruitment and support processes thanks to funding from the Claude Ballard Foundation which resulted in four new volunteers.

• Work to make us stronger and safer through staff training around Safeguarding and people development thanks to the National Lottery Awards of All.

• Increasing digital engagement and remote support for clients of our Duty and floating support services.

• Moving our BSL courses onto Zoom during the lockdown of January 2021.

• Educating our communities on Covid and Diabetes through wider VCFSE partnerships with Liverpool CCG and Liverpool City Council.

Future plans

Developing partnerships and engaging with our communities will form the cornerstones of our work in the coming year. Our communities and clubs are at the heart of everything we do and we are aware of the significant and disproportionate impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on mental health and social isolation of people with hearing loss.

In the next financial year we will be focusing on:

• Engaging with our clubs and social groups to help build capacity, understand need and support them to create and access opportunities of social benefit.

• Successfully tendering for a further three-year hearing loss service for Wirral under the membership of Wirral Health and Wellbeing CIC.

• Continuing to deliver and improve frontline hearing loss services as contracted by Liverpool City Council.

• Seeking funding to deliver a transformation and resilience programme which will enable the charity to review structures, develop its people, improve governance and grow.

• Investing in our workforce and volunteers through a programme of training and recruitment.

• Increasing our partnership working with peer organisations including Deafness Resource Centre, Deaf Active, Wirral Society for Blind and Partially Sighted People and members of The 800 Group.

• Starting to grow our social care outreach services to benefit more Deaf people in our communities.

• Conducting a full governance review and recruiting to our Board of Trustees.

• Raising the profile of MSDP at a regional and national level.

• Continuing to recruit and appoint Trustees with the values and skills to take our charity forward.

MSDP would not be able to deliver services to make the impact that we do, without the skill and dedication of its staff, volunteers and without the support of individuals and organisations that made donations and funded our work.

The trustees present their report and financial statements for the year ended 30 September 2021.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the charity's memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act 2006 and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)".

Mission Statement

“MSDP working in partnerships, bringing together Deaf* and hearing communities to create more accessible services.”

*Deaf=Deaf, deaf, Hard of Hearing and Deaf-blind

The Board of Management, staff and volunteers are committed to upholding the organisation's Core Values.

The values of MSDP have recently been reviewed and the values highlighted below will provide a foundation for successful growth and development of services in the future.

• Equality

• Communication

• Trust

• Respect

• Quality

• Sustainability

From the Memorandum of Association, the main object of the charity is, in the old-fashioned language “the relief of persons who are Deaf, Deaf Blind and hard of hearing (“The beneficiaries”)

This is carried out in MSDP through: -

• Providing environmental aids equipment to beneficiaries in their own homes to enable them to live independently. These services are available in Wirral and Liverpool.

• Providing person-centred social care outreach services to vulnerable and isolated people in their own homes, promoting independence, wellbeing and connecting them with social and cultural activities.

• Providing British Sign Language (BSL) and deaf awareness training to a wide range of individuals and organisations to promote and encourage better treatment of (e.g. communication with, attitudes towards) the beneficiaries in the hearing world.

• Providing employment and volunteering opportunities for beneficiaries in the charity where they can receive training and development in an accessible environment.

• Creating and maintaining effective partnerships to deliver our objectives in the service of our beneficiaries.

• Facilitating social interaction and recreation amongst beneficiaries and between them and hearing people through the provision of a community space and supporting community activities in a variety of ways.

• Raising funds to carry out the activities of the charity.

Understanding and reporting on Public Benefit

The Trustees of the Merseyside Society for Deaf People are fully aware of and understand the requirement to report on the charity’s activities in relation to Public Benefit, as set out in the Charity Commission’s guidance. The Trustees have paid due regard to the guidance when managing the activities of the charity and in reporting on its activities in this annual report.

Premises

MSDP maintains two premises to help them achieve the purposes of the charity; one in Liverpool on Queens Drive Retail Park and offices at Matrix House in the Wirral. During the financial year the charity engaged with the community groups to ensure they could continue to meet. Wirral Deaf Community currently meet weekly at Our Lady of Lourdes in Birkenhead. Smaller groups have had the option to utilise community space at nearby Wirral Society for Blind and Partially Sighted People where our drop-in Duty Service is also based.

Having sold the old Grange Road West building the charity is proactively working with Wirral Deaf Community to assess options for a new building on the Wirral. Wirral Deaf Community have also been raising funds towards new premises.

The Queens Drive building rents space to a number of outside organisations (when it is not in use by our own departments and community) to help raise funds towards the maintenance of the building and thus support the charitable activities of the organisation. We have seen a decline in rental through the pandemic but are optimistic that groups will return to rent our spaces as we emerge from Covid.

Community Liaison

We are proud of our people and communities. Our charity is user led and we are developing a user engagement plan to enable our communities to help shape our services. 70% of our staff team are d/Deaf, we have d/Deaf Trustees and provide social spaces to the one of the largest Deaf Social Clubs in the country. This year we have focused on educating our communities on how to keep safe from Covid. We have worked hard to provide social activities for our groups and to reach out to those most isolated.

In the Wirral, we continued to support Wirral Deaf Community on their journey to establishing a formal community group. The group meets monthly and over the next year we will be supporting them to access committee skills training and successfully set up a group bank account.

Highlights this year have included:

• Supporting our community to complete the 2021 ONS Census forms to ensure as many local BSL users could specify that BSL is their first language.

• Re-opening our social clubs to members. In Spring we started to welcome our groups back to Queen’s Drive. Joe’s Members Bar is grateful to those volunteers giving their time to enable vital social interaction.

• Our developing partnership with Deaf Active and Deafness Resource Centre. In support of Deafness Resource Centre’s iCan project we are looking to signpost, share resources and work together to create more services for d/Deaf families and children.

• Community Champions Project with Liverpool City Council. Under the project we work with other community focused voluntary sector providers to raise awareness of our communities and improve knowledge of Covid with the Deaf Community. In July we supported two mass vaccination events in Sefton Park.

• Diabetes Partnership with Liverpool CCG. We have been delighted to receive funding for a small project to educate our communities on diabetes. The project runs until 2022 and we will utilise the outcomes to help shape our plans for wider health education programme.

• Stop Loan Shark funding from the Illegal Money Lending Team. Merseysign Theatre Group started work in Summer on developing a performance to educate local Deaf people about Loan Sharks. As BSL is a visual language Loan Shark does not translate easily and the team are enjoying working with the IMLT and is keen to join their Partner Recognition Scheme. Social Media is used to update our members on services and activities.

Social Media is used to update our members on services and activities.

On the 4th September 2021 a memorial service was held at All Saints Church, Broadgreen in memory of loved ones lost over the year. This was led by Reverend Hannah Lewis and was well attended.

Janice Connolly

Deaf Community Liaison Officer.

Training and Communication department:

The Training & Communication Services Department consist of two full time tutors, Stephen McKenna and Ian Cockburn, with administration support from Jan Green and Georgia White.

The Department’s aim is to improve communication and awareness to reduce the barriers faced by Deaf people on a daily basis by delivering Deaf Awareness and British Sign Language Training.

The department has experienced significant reduction in income as course end dates and exams had to be delayed due to Covid lockdowns meant tutors were focused on supporting a backlog of students. Additionally, government guidelines meant classes could only allow a maximum 12 students per session to meet requirements for social distancing and health & safety measures.

A grant from the Charities Aid Foundation Covid Resilience programme provided some welcome support to enable the team to regroup and reassess training plans and budgets.

As a result, the team introduced additional evening courses to their weekly timetable and have developed a new Signature Accredited BSL Level 4 course which is scheduled to begin in Autumn 2021. In January 2021 the team moved all teaching online temporarily. This was an incredible achievement which offered students some continuity through Covid restrictions.

During October 2020 – September 2021 a total of 91 students have attended our British Sign Language courses.

*Signature pass rate averaged across three units

**28 students sat exam / remaining 12 to sit exam February 2022

The NVQ Level 6 Language and Interpreting courses resumed with students returning to the classroom. The NVQ Level 6 Language course portfolios will be submitted to Signature in November 2021. It is our aim for the NVQ Level 6 Interpreting course to complete in 2022

The department continues to deliver Deaf Awareness training and customised British Sign Language training with some businesses choosing online learning to accommodate staff who are still working from home. We have delivered training to local organisations including; Sefton Citizens’ Advice Bureau, United Utilities, and Liverpool Women’s Hospital. The team were delighted to welcome back the University of Liverpool Year 4 medical students, who recommenced Deaf Awareness training in September 2020. Training continues online via Zoom at their request and is working well.

A bespoke package of Sign Language Training was delivered to the University of Liverpool, Department of Psychology in January 2021. The training formed part of a research program to identify brain activity with language. This was a very interesting piece of research and the University were delighted with the end result.

Another great achievement was delivering Signature accredited Unit 101 training to People First Merseyside which is an organisation run by and for adults with a learning disability. This was a very positive experience with all participants receiving a certificate of attendance and two students achieving the full BSL Level 1 qualification.

Thanks to funding from Jack’s Place we were able to deliver a funded 4-week family sign course in Summer 2021. The training was attended by a mix of hearing parents and Deaf children and Deaf parents with hearing children. The course was well received by parents, and it is our aim to source funding to offer a second course.

Stephen McKenna

Training & Communication Manager

Community Support Services

To start off with our yearly report of the Support Services. I would like to thank all the staff in the support team, Duty officers and bank staff for their excellent service, passion and care throughout these unprecedented times. All our frontline key workers have continued to provide vital support to individual clients, making sure that their needs are met on a daily basis. This year the team delivered 9,275 individual hours of care package support. Being on the frontline in a pandemic has been challenging for every Social Care provider, however it is important to remember that our staff deliver services to Deaf-Blind people who communicate using Hands-On Deaf-Blind Communication. Without physical touch of the hands a number of our clients would have no communication whatsoever. That is what makes our specialist services different and essential.

The Support Service team has continued to offer support in all areas of Liverpool, Sefton and Wirral. The pandemic enabled the team to open up online/remote Duty sessions in Wirral and Liverpool which resulted in an increase in demand for services.

Following government guidelines, we slowly reopened activities in our social clubs. Thursday coffee morning continues to provide a lifeline for many isolated Deaf people who came to socialise and see presentations on topics from diabetes to understanding Covid and potential changes in utility prices. Our team of volunteers have provided 690 hours of support to cover our reception desks and support social club activities.

Staff have continued to use the correct PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) and ensure they are regularly tested. We have encouraged and supported all staff, volunteers and clients to get vaccinated and boosted. Staff have received a variety of training including; Designated Safeguarding Lead, Safeguarding Adults, Cyber Security, Health and Social Care Level 2 and 3. All staff completed their annual personal development plan in Summer and an organisational wide training plan is currently in development.

THANK YOU to all the Support Workers, Duty officers and bank staff team for all the support that you have continued to offer. You are at the heart of our communities and continue to be outstanding and a credit to MSDP.

Dawn Dignam

Community Support Service Manager and Designated Safeguarding Lead

Environmental Aids department

The Environmental Aids department continues to work across Liverpool City and Wirral Borough Council areas to assess the needs of clients, installing equipment where required to maintain independence in their homes. Technical Officers, Chris Hopwood and Glen Cockburn install equipment whilst Senior Rehabilitation Officer Jeanette Tiernan conducts assessments. The team is supported by administrators, Chanelle Bateman and Georgia White.

Over the year staff have completed 300 assessments and 397 repairs visits. Our Technical Officers have installed 572 pieces of equipment. We have increased publicity for our services in key areas such as GP surgeries and housing schemes as we have seen a sustained drop in referrals compared to pre-pandemic levels.

In the coming year we plan to utilise lessons learned through the pandemic to improve how we deliver our Equipment Services in order to educate and support more people to enjoy independent lives.

Sefton Social Work and Duty Service

The charity is contracted by Sefton Council to provide specialist Social Work and drop-in duty services for the Deaf Community under the Sefton Council Boundaries.

We contract one fully qualified, registered and experienced Profoundly Deaf Social Worker who works two days a week to facilitate the contract on a Tuesday and Wednesday. The allocated Social Worker reports into Sefton’s Local Authority Team.

During the current pandemic, this work has predominantly been carried out in a home environment and were possible, visits have been made to the clients own residential property, residential or care home, with appropriate PPE and authorisation. It has been challenging in the current pandemic to cover these areas within Sefton.

Pre-pandemic Deaf people accessed our Duty services at Southport Deaf Centre and Crosby Library for support from the support worker. This provides the Deaf Community with a consistent, valuable service which is for the most part their only form of accessible communication to Local Authority and Healthcare Services including welfare support and the wider community. In person support has restarted at Crosby Library with a significant proportion of Duty support still taking place digitally.

Our Social Worker has undertaken a number of review plans and initial assessments for existing and new clients as their need requires. This year we have seen poorer mental health due to the isolation and an increase in complex needs. We support a range of clients, from people in crises to improving the lives of Deaf-Blind clients whose first question on seeing the Social Worker is “Can you tell me the news on Boris and the government today?”. For our communities, access to information and communication is vital. And sometimes it’s the smallest changes such as knowing the news headlines that really can make the biggest difference.

The team has worked hard to share and create BSL resources to educate the Deaf Community on Covid topics. Our Community Liaison Officer created BSL content to highlight the rising number of Covid cases in Sefton which resulted in Deaf people accessing vaccination clinics.

This year we have seen Deaf clients with a variety of complex needs who have required more detailed assessments and others who simply want access to communication that provides a little help and reassurance. Of these we have covered many areas including financial, mental health, safeguarding, family dynamics, clients not complying with care packages which include specialist help and care elements, liaising with the financial teams within Sefton Council for various aspects of a client’s needs.

Elaine Jackson Lee

MSDP Social Worker in Sefton

Liverpool Deaf Community and Joes Bar

MSDP provides a room for the use of community groups, which includes a bar. “Joes Bar” funds itself and is run by Liverpool Deaf Community committee with the help of 14 volunteer bar staff. We closed the club from January to April 2021 in adherence with Covid restrictions. Our weekly time table is:

Regular Groups:

Tuesday Afternoon        Hard of Hearing

Wednesday Afternoon        Elderly Pensioners Club (EPC)

Wednesday Evening        Bagpipes/Football Match

Thursday Morning         Coffee Morning

Thursday Afternoon         Deaf Catholic Group

Friday Evening            Sports and Social Club

Sunday Evening            St Vincent’s Parish

Monthly Groups:

Catholic Church

Church of England

Occasionally – Big Bingo

Thank you to all the volunteers who continue to work in the bar and the Committee for their continued support.

Wirral Deaf Community

The group has worked hard to establish itself as an independent community organisation. The team now meet regularly and are learning about the roles and responsibilities of running a committee.  Finding a new home has been a priority for the group following the closure of MSDP’s Grange Road West building. Wirral Deaf Community moved to Our Lady’s Parish Centre, Park Road North and meet every Tuesday 10-4pm for a coffee morning then Bingo. During lockdown, before they were allowed to meet indoors, the group met at Port Sunlight Bowling green for Open Air green bowls and were able to adhere to social distancing rules here too.

Over the next year we plan to help the group to become fully constituted and set up a bank account to enable them to apply for community funds in their own right.

Fundraising activities

A huge thanks to our community for their fundraising efforts over the year. In November 2020 Darren Jones ran 10km a day for 28 days – 280km in all raising £2,806 for this event. In April 2021 Darren also cut his long hair to raise £615 towards new Wirral premises.

January 2021 saw 25 members of the community participating in ‘A Walk a day to keep the Doctor away’. 5km a day in their own time wherever they could. The event raised £2,080.

2020-21 saw significant growth in fundraising income from Trusts and Foundations. A total of £96,559 was gratefully raised with £43,075 of that directed Covid specific work and the remaining towards strategic development and strengthening the organisation. This includes expanding volunteering opportunities, community engagement and an HR/safeguarding review. 

A bid to CAF (Charities Aid Foundation) Resilience Fund stage 2 was submitted in September 2021 which will enable MSDP to recover from the impact of Covid 19 and begin to execute the strategic goals for the organisation. This includes the development of grassroots services for the D/deaf and multi-sensory loss communities and the strengthening of finance processes, HR and Governance. 

Volunteers

Thanks to funding from Claude Ballard we were able to review and update our volunteer recruitment processes and pay for Volunteer Management training for our volunteer lead. As a result, we recruited four new volunteers in the financial year bringing our total to seven volunteers. Our new Volunteer Recruitment/Induction process is much clearer and provides the volunteers with an understanding of their role and contribution. As part of the review, we also took the opportunity to improve our Trustee recruitment processes

Volunteers had many reasons for seeking volunteer opportunities. Some attended a BSL course and wanted to improve their signing skills, others wanted to support the community and to use their signing skills to help out in any way they can.

Volunteers are placed in different areas within the Charity to ensure they get to develop new skills, build on existing ones or simply help others to participate in their community.

Task descriptions:

• Reception/Admin

• Classroom support for students.

• Activity Group Coordinator/Worker.

• Bar staff on Joe’s Members’ Bar.

On average the seven volunteers give 20-30 hours of their time every week.

We regularly ask what kind of impact our volunteers are having, and below is just a couple of quotes we have received:

• She interacts with the group very well. She is providing great invaluable support to the students who require it.

• Every time I come in the Deaf Centre I always see their smiling faces, I like to joke with them.

• The volunteer just sat and talked with me in BSL in coffee morning. I enjoyed reminiscing about my family and my experience growing up as a Deaf person.

• Lady on reception is always very helpful, sweet and always smile on her face.

We would like to say a 'big thank you' to all MSDP Volunteers for their dedication, commitment and generosity, it is so very much appreciated.

The results for the year and the charity's financial position at the end of the year are shown in the attached financial statements.

The total income for this financial year is £940,559 (£818,132 in 2020) which has increased by £122,427 from the previous year. This is due to a rise in unrestricted income of £43,602 to £861,734 (£818,132 in 2020) and an increase in restricted income of £78,825 (£nil in 2020).

The total expenses for this financial year are £829,829 (2020: £804,511) which is an increase of £25,318 from the previous year.

At present MSDP continues to be in a stable financial position. Existing Local Authority Service Level Agreements continued in Liverpool, Sefton and Wirral. Grant income increased and work started in Summer on securing our Wirral services under a new three-year contract which, if successful, will start in 2022. Our care packages (spot purchase) also saw an increase in hours as Covid restrictions eased and new clients were introduced.

In addition to the Local Authority Contracts, the main income for the Charity comes from:

Training Courses
Interpreting Services
Rental of space
Donations and legacies

Although in a stable financial position, MSDP still face challenges over the coming years. This is due to several factors; potential cuts to social care and Local Authority funding: increases in costs and Local Authority contracts due to end, and be sent out for tender.

We would like to extend our thanks to the organisations who have supported us over the year:

The Proven Family Trust

Jacks Place

LCR Cares

Charities Aid Foundation

NHS Diabetes Inequalities Fund (in partnership with Liverpool CCG)

Liverpool City Council

Wirral Council

Sefton Council

National Lottery Awards For All

Price Parry Charitable Trust

Stop Loan Sharks Community Fund

Leeds Building Society

Claude Ballard Southall Memorial Charity

Reserves policy

The reserves policy is prepared in accordance with the guidance published by the Charity Commission and in the interest of prudent business management.

The Trustees have determined the reserve levels of the charity giving consideration to the income and expenditure streams, the need to match variable income with fixed commitments and the nature of the reserves. The Trustees have concluded that, to allow the charity to be managed efficiently and to provide a buffer for uninterrupted services, a general reserve equivalent to approximately three months of net core expenditure should be maintained.

At 30 September 2021 the funds of the charity were £1,303,882 (2020: £1,193,152) of which £1,248,672 (2020: £1,169,191) was unrestricted, excluding the revaluation reserve.

At 30 September 2021 the free reserves of the charity were £551,602 (2020: £500,250) and were calculated as general unrestricted reserves less designated funds, tangible assets and associated loans.

The Trustees have reviewed the Charity’s need for reserves in line with guidance issued by the Charity Commission. The Trustees agree to the aim of holding at least three months running costs in free reserves on the understanding that the charity’s funding is not certain and to ensure that the charity can run effectively and continue to meet the needs of its beneficiaries.

Accountability

The charity must comply with legislation and regulation in many areas of its work, including: data protection, staffing issues, selection, conditions, remuneration, discipline, grievance, Income Tax, National Insurance, health and safety, equality issues, race, gender and disability.

Merseyside Society For Deaf People is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee. The charity is governed by a memorandum of association, 13 June 1997, Revised and approved by Board and Members of the Deaf Community 31 March 2017. The company has no share capital, being a company limited by guarantee.

The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:

Our Patron is Lord Salisbury

He says “I am very honoured to be a Patron of MSDP, particularly in view of my family’s long connection with the City of Liverpool, and it is a privilege to be a supporter of such an effective organisation. I wish MSDP the very best of good fortune in the years to come.”

Trustee Selection and Development

The charity recruits Trustees onto the board who can contribute to the achievement of the charity’s objectives based on their skills, experience and knowledge. We proactively seek to recruit Trustees with lived experience of d/Deaf issues from a variety of perspectives. Prospective Trustees are asked to complete an application form and skills audit which covers the experience they can offer and their reasons for wishing to be a Trustee. After submitting the form, the prospective Trustee then meets with representatives of the management committee and staff. The appointment of the prospective Trustee is discussed at the next board meeting, and if approved by a majority of Trustees present, is invited to join the board.

Any new Trustee is taken through an induction process that includes meeting staff to learn about our services, attending Deaf Awareness sessions and support at their first few Board meetings. Trustees are valued and it’s important they become familiar with the charity and are encouraged to take advantage of occasions to meet staff and community members.

All Trustees are expected to participate in relevant planning/training events with management staff and to undergo any necessary training in issues specific to their role.

In accordance with the company's articles, a resolution proposing that BWM be reappointed as auditor of the company will be put at a General Meeting.

Each of the trustees has confirmed that there is no information of which they are aware which is relevant to the audit, but of which the auditor is unaware. They have further confirmed that they have taken appropriate steps to identify such relevant information and to establish that the auditor is aware of such information.

Small company provisions

This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating to small companies within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006.

The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.

The trustees, who are also the directors of Merseyside Society for Deaf People for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company Law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year.

In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;

- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and

- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Merseyside Society for Deaf People (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 30 September 2021 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows and the notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company's affairs as at 30 September 2021 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, for the year then ended;

have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:

the information given in the trustees' report, which includes the directors’ report prepared for the purposes of company law, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

the directors' report included within the trustees' report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the directors' report included within the trustees' report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or

the trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the Trustees' Report and from the requirement to prepare a Strategic Report.

As explained more fully in the statement of trustees' responsibilities, the trustees, who are also the directors of the charity for the purpose of company law, are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below.

Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, was as follows:

• the engagement partner ensured that the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills to identify or recognise non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

• we identified the laws and regulations applicable to the company through discussions with directors and other management;

• we focused on specific laws and regulations which we considered may have a direct material effect on the financial statements or the operations of the company, including the Companies Act 2006, taxation legislation and data protection, anti-bribery, employment and health and safety legislation;

• we assessed the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations identified above through making enquiries of management and inspecting legal correspondence; and

• identified laws and regulations were communicated within the audit team regularly and the team remained alert to instances of non-compliance throughout the audit.

We assessed the susceptibility of the company’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by:

• making enquiries of management as to where they considered there was susceptibility to fraud, their knowledge of actual, suspected and alleged fraud; and

• considering the internal controls in place to mitigate risks of fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations.

To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls, we:

• performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships;

• tested journal entries to identify unusual transactions;

• assessed whether judgements and assumptions made in determining the accounting estimates were indicative of potential bias; and

• investigated the rationale behind significant or unusual transactions.

In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:

• agreeing financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation;

• reading the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance; and

• enquiring of management as to actual and potential litigation and claims.

There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of non-compliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the directors and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.

Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors' report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.

All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.

All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

Merseyside Society for Deaf People is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Queens Drive Retail Park, West Derby, Liverpool, L13 0DJ.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the charity's Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Companies Act 2006 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.

At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have have considered the impact of COVID 19 and have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Income is recognised when the charity is legally entitled to it after any performance conditions have been met, the amounts can be measured reliably, and it is probable that income will be received.

Cash donations are recognised on receipt.

Income from donations and grants, including capital grants, and contract income is included in income when these are receivable, except as follows:

• When donors specify that donations and grants given to the charity must be used in future accounting periods, the income is deferred until those periods.

• When donors impose conditions which have to be fulfilled before the charity becomes entitled to use such income, the income is deferred and not included in income until the preconditions for use have been met.

• When donors specify that donations and grants, including capital grants, are for particular restricted purposes, which do not amount to preconditions regarding entitlement, this income is included in restricted funds when receivable.

Other grants, which have particular service requirements and which are provided in accordance with a contract or service level agreement are included in the Statement of Financial Activities under the heading Charitable Activities.

Rental income from operating leases (net of any incentives given to the lessees) is recognised on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to that category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Management and governance costs are those incurred in connection with administration of the charity and compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements.

Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.

Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:

Freehold land is not depreciated.

The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year.

At each reporting end date, the charity reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.

The charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.

Financial instruments are recognised in the charity's balance sheet when the charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.

Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.

Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.

Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.

Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.

The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.

Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the charity is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.

Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.

Rentals payable under operating leases, including any lease incentives received, are charged as an expense on a straight line basis over the term of the relevant lease.

Rentals received under operating leases are credited to the Statement of Financial Activity on a straight line basis over the period of the lease.

Taxation

The charity benefits from various exemptions from taxation afforded by tax legislation and is not liable to corporation tax on income or gains falling within those exemptions. Recovery is made of tax deducted from qualifying income and from receipts under gift aid.

The charity is not able to recover Value Added Tax. Expenditure is recorded in the accounts inclusive of VAT.

In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.

Grants receivable

Exam fees

Other costs

Premises costs

Office costs

Other costs

Support and governance costs are recharged by project activity.

The analysis of auditor's remuneration is as follows:

The average monthly number of employees during the year was:

Included within payroll costs above is £81,234 (2020: £100,009) for costs of freelance interpreters, bank staff, social care and training contractors.

None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration during the year, and no trustees were reimbursed expenses (2020- no trustees were reimbursed).

The land at Queens Drive is included at the deemed cost of £30,359 as allowed by regulations under FRS102 and the charity SORP 2015.

Barclays Bank plc hold a floating charge over all property or undertakings of the charity.

National Westminster Bank plc hold a legal charge, created in July 2017, over freehold land and buildings at Queens Drive, West Derby, Liverpool.

As at 30 September 2021 the amount owed to National Westminster Bank plc was £535,560 (2020: £552,541).

Freehold land and buildings includes investment property which comprises one floor of the property at Queens Drive, West Derby, Liverpool. The entire property is accounted for as property within tangible fixed assets.

Deferred income is included in the financial statements as follows:

The bank loan is secured by a legal charge over the charity's property in Queens Drive, Liverpool.

The bank loan is repayable by equal monthly instalments of £4,257, with a final balancing payment. Interest is paid as it falls due and is calculated at 2.00 per cent per annum over bank base rate.

In light of the effects Covid-19 had on charity income, the decision was made to take a payment holiday on the NatWest loan to assist the charity for 12 months from April 2020.

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund.

The charge in the statement of financial activities for the year in respect of defined contribution schemes was £12,644 (2020: £9,510).

At the reporting end date the charity had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, which fall due as follows:

The operating leases represent leases to third parties. The leases are negotiated over terms of 5 to 15 years and rental income is fixed for 5 years. The longer leases includes a provision for five-yearly upward rent reviews according to prevailing market conditions. There are no options in place for any party to extend the terms of the leases.

At the reporting end date the charity had contracted with tenants for the following minimum lease payments:

Expenditure

Income

Expenditure

West Derby Wasteland

MSDP were awarded £3,000 from West Derby Wastelands Charity to provide match funding to deliver BSL level 1 training.

Morrisons Foundation

MSDP were successful in an application to the Morrisons Foundation for £13,640. The project will fund level 1 training for 25 relatives of Deaf People.

Charities Aid Foundation funds a proportion of salaries to build resilience within the training department.

National Lottery Awards for All funds HR expertise and safeguarding advisors to review and update current policies, safeguarding, training and HR training.

Diabetes Inequalties Fund funds diabetes awareness training for deaf staff and volunteers. It increases accessible online information about diabetes and host information and support sessions.

Liverpool City Council Community Champions funds a community champions salary for one year.

Claude Balllard Southall Memorial Fund –training for volunteer manager and proportion of salary to develop induction and recruitment processes.

Stop Loan Sharks Community Fund – interactive accessible workshops enabling the Deaf community to identify when they may be targeted by loan sharks.

The Wirral building fund aims to raise funds to purchase and renovate a building on the Wirral to enable the charity to reach those who need it most.

During the year ended 30 September 2021, the trustees have designated funds to establish additional permanent, physical spaces on Merseyside to enable the charity to reach those who need it most.

Included within the unrestricted funds is the revaluation reserve of £23,991 (2020: £23,991). This is the deemed cost element of land retained at Queens Drive, West Derby for the new building to be erected following the sale of the site and old building in the year ended 30 September 2015, less the original cost of that land of £6,368.

The remuneration of key management personnel is as follows.

Mrs Deborah Gambell, a trustee from 23 January 2020, is a director and shareholder of a company that provides management accounting services (£2,482 in 2019/20) to the charity.

There were no other related party transactions in the year.