Official Statement – Walsall Deaf Community Services
For BSL version, please scroll down to the bottom.
Thank you to all who attended our Emergency General Meeting at Walsall Deaf People’s Centre on Monday 13th May. We are posting this announcement for those who were not able to attend.
The trustees regret to inform you the Deaf centre will close its doors on Friday 28th June and all staff have been made redundant because we have run out of money.
During the meeting people wanted more detailed information about the finances. We are happy to share this information and you can find the details on the link below for our full accounts.
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/charity-commission
How have we got to this point:
Positives
• We made funding applications and received some small core grants
• Some well attended events – e.g. comedy night, Halloween, 1940’s
• Strong success rate with BSL students
• Partnership working – The Sign Life/Zebra/Drama group
• European Social Funding project
• We have maintained the Deaf centre for the last 4 years
Negatives
• Lost the Disability grant forum and staff
• Loss of money from room hire
• Loss of income from students BSL classes
• Loss of a big interpreting contract because of changes in the law
• Not enough Deaf people supporting the centre/using the building making it difficult to apply for funding
This means we have run out of money.
During the meeting we discussed 3 options with the Deaf community who attended.
Option One: Sell the building and close the charity.
Any money left will be donated to a Deaf charity operating locally or nationally.
Advantages – funds gained would sustain another Deaf charity and Deaf people in general
Disadvantage – lose the building, and lose the money from the sale of the centre for local Walsall Deaf people
Option Two: Sell the building and buy or rent a smaller venue.
Advantages – opportunity to continue, frees up cash in short term, gives us time to plan for the future, have a fresh start about how services are delivered. Restructuring opportunities – for example change of Trustees. Gives the Deaf community the opportunity to contribute what they want to happen.
Disadvantages – We won’t know what it looks like, long term it won’t solve the lack of funding in terms of sustainability. It will take time to sell and find another building.
Option Three: Sell the front half of the building and rent or keep the social club part.
Advantages – we would retain some of the building for the Deaf community. It free up some cash in the short term.
Disadvantages – The building would sell for less. It would be expensive to split the building and if we rented there is no guarantee we could do this long term. Rental costs would need to be covered ongoing.
A show of hands indicated that most attendees preferred option 2. We are happy for people to feedback what they prefer. All the feedback and comments will be discussed at our trustees meeting next week. In addition, many people said they wanted more of the Deaf community represented on the board; if you are interested please get in touch.
We will have a final meeting before the end of June.
We understand this is a difficult and challenging time.
Regards,
Board of trustees, CEO and staff
**Transcript**Thank you to all who attended our Emergency General Meeting at Walsall Deaf People’s Centre on Monday 13th May. We are posting this announcement for those who were not able to attend. The trustees regret to inform you the Deaf centre will close its doors on Friday 28th June and all staff have been made redundant because we have run out of money. During the meeting people wanted more detailed information about the finances. We are happy to share this information and you can find the details on the link below for our full accounts.https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/charity-commissionHow have we got to this point: Positives• We made funding applications and received some small core grants• Some well attended events – e.g. comedy night, Halloween, 1940’s• Strong success rate with BSL students• Partnership working – The Sign Life/Zebra/Drama group• European Social Funding project• We have maintained the Deaf centre for the last 4 yearsNegatives• Lost the Disability grant forum and staff• Loss of money from room hire• Loss of income from students BSL classes• Loss of a big interpreting contract because of changes in the law• Not enough Deaf people supporting the centre/using the building making it difficult to apply for fundingThis means we have run out of money.During the meeting we discussed 3 options with the Deaf community who attended.Option One: Sell the building and close the charity. Any money left will be donated to a Deaf charity operating locally or nationally. Advantages – funds gained would sustain another Deaf charity and Deaf people in generalDisadvantage – lose the building, and lose the money from the sale of the centre for local Walsall Deaf peopleOption Two: Sell the building and buy or rent a smaller venue. Advantages – opportunity to continue, frees up cash in short term, gives us time to plan for the future, have a fresh start about how services are delivered. Restructuring opportunities – for example change of Trustees. Gives the Deaf community the opportunity to contribute what they want to happen. Disadvantages – We won’t know what it looks like, long term it won’t solve the lack of funding in terms of sustainability. It will take time to sell and find another building. Option Three: Sell the front half of the building and rent or keep the social club part.Advantages – we would retain some of the building for the Deaf community. It free up some cash in the short term.Disadvantages – The building would sell for less. It would be expensive to split the building and if we rented there is no guarantee we could do this long term. Rental costs would need to be covered ongoing.A show of hands indicated that most attendees preferred option 2. We are happy for people to feedback what they prefer. All the feedback and comments will be discussed at our trustees meeting next week. In addition, many people said they wanted more of the Deaf community represented on the board; if you are interested please get in touch.We will have a final meeting before the end of June.We understand this is a difficult and challenging time.Regards,Board of trustees, CEO and staff
Gepostet von Walsall Deaf People's Centre am Donnerstag, 16. Mai 2019
