Accidental Zoo 4/6/21 Following our last AGM on 4th May 2021 we visited the Accidental Zoo, around 25 people attended, a very pleasant interactive morning meeting all of the animals, a huge success and the committee decided that it would be nice to visit them again the following year. I always think that the visits to the zoo are special as they open it exclusively to our charity making it easier for our children to hear about the animals and interact. All the children were brave enough to cuddle some snakes too.

Upclimb Aug 26th we had 9 children attend this event, the ages were quite varied but the friendly staff did a great job of entertaining them, coming up with challenges for them and interactive games. This also gave the parents a bit of time to sit together and have a chat.

Pool party 23rd October 23 people put their names down for this but a couple didn’t turn up as covid cases were on the rise and anyone with any symptoms were asked to keep away. Swimming is always popular, children and parents both enjoy the water - this year we had a new family attend. Again a variety of ages there, by my calculations the youngest child was about 3 and the eldest around 14.

November Tracy Setters decided to leave the committee - she was a valued member , very friendly and cheerful and will be missed by the rest of the committee.

Round Table Charity Fayre 21st Nov. This event involves lots of preparation, instead of the usual lucky dip which we were unable to do this year we decided to make presents for teachers and sell things for children too. Having entertained herself through lockdown earlier in the year making Pom poms - Gill strung these onto fairy lights making beautiful gifts, she also made miniature Xmas cakes, Elliot was preparing to make Reindeer hot chocolates, I made reindeers out of face cloths and paired them up with a wrapped bar of soap, I also made reindeer food and was making decorated pot plants. As the preparations were on the way, covid numbers rose even more and with only a few days notice the Round Table decided to cancel the fayre. It was the right choice as we were all feeling nervous about being stuck in a hall with hundreds of people. All was not lost though because I sold the soap reindeers to colleagues at work - Gill sold her cakes, the rest of the items could be stored away until next year. We made over £70.

Ice Skating 19th December. 15 people braved the cold ice this year - again thankfully no injuries but I think one young man left with very red knees. (he was actually wearing shorts) thank you to Gill for organising this event and buying Xmas treats for all the children.

Town church Xmas tree festival. For the first time we decided to join this Xmas tree festival to advertise our charity. Inspired by Gills Pom Pom making Emma and her daughter set to work making Pom Poms in the colours of our GDCS Logo. Put on the tree with a set of coloured fairy lights, they really did look stunning - definitely one of the most colorful trees on display. Well done Emma and family, and thank you.

New year / Discovery Passes. Covid numbers were still high over the new year, schools were separating the children into bubbles and were advising children to wear masks. The committee did meet up to organise some events but places were insisting that we should wear masks which isn’t suitable for our children. Bit of a disappointing start to the year but the Denise came up with the bright idea of buying discovery passes allowing families to explore our local museums for free for a whole year. This was taken up by 8 families who all said that it was a great idea. Thank you Denise.

This takes us up to date with the events this year but as always there are lots of things going on in the background.

Our accounts have been changed to online banking - this makes it much easier to acknowledge any donations that have come in.

We decided to purchase gifts for newly diagnosed children to encourage new families to join us. We decided on a lovely book by Julia Donaldson about a fairy who can’t hear very well, whilst being a charming and funny story, it also gives useful tips on how to talk to people with a hearing loss. We included a letter in each book informing the parents about our charity.

The charity was Involved with a consultation about telecoms switching to fiber, this was quite time consuming.

Website - Elliot has taken control of the reigns and has been busy getting to know our website and adjusting it for us.

Card reader - we purchased a sumup machine primarily for the Xmas fayre thinking that some people wouldn’t be so keen on using cash. Unfortunately it is yet to be used but I’m sure it will prove usefull soon.

Films / subtitles, I have been contacting our local cinema about showing films with subtitles, they have agreed to do so on request, I have now seen 3 films with subtitles there, 2 screenings were fairly full. Fingers crossed people will continue to use this.

Covid cases, as the case numbers, children were put into bubbles and were encouraged to wear masks at schools. We reminded parents about the clear face masks available to teachers and that there are ways teachers can adjust their lessons to help children with a hearing loss follow the lesson. Help is available, don’t let your children miss out.

Charity regulations. More consultations to attend, more rules being enforced this year, meaning that the constitution will need to be adjusted.

We all had to renew our police checks at the start of the year following NDCS regulations.

On reflection it’s been a bit of a sticky year - we haven’t done as many events as we usually would and perhaps they haven’t been as well attended. My family had a bereavement just after the last AGM which meant a lot of traveling to England and back in a time when we were made to isolate upon arrival into Guernsey. Guernsey residents have been keeping a close eye on the covid cases going up and down as we opened up our boarders in the summer, the number sometimes rose at an alarming rate as we learn to live with this virus - this has affected our events at the start of this year made us nervous to organise things during the summer and also could have prevented some parents wanting to join our activities.

Last but not least I want to thank each and every person the team for their valuable support over the last year. Thank you.