Governance
DELTA is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered as a charity. It is governed by a Board of Trustees in accordance with the Memorandum of Association of DEAF EDUCATION THROUGH LISTENING AND TALKING.
Our Trustees
Read our Annual Report
The 2022 AGM was held within the lovely grounds of the Frontier Centre in Wellingborough where we were also holding a residential DELTA Family Weekend.
Ed Rex
Chair
Bob & Jill White
Trustee
We’re recent trustees, appointed in October 2020. But we have long associations with DELTA as our first child of four, Rosalind, was born with a severe/profound hearing impairment.
So DELTA taught us a lot. How hearing works, how hearing aids work and how to get your child listening and speaking. How there is all to play for. And it all worked well; Rosalind responded well, learned to listen and speak, went to mainstream school and university. Most of all she was able to take her place in a hearing society.
We’re both semi retired lecturers and spend our time grandparenting and walking an ageing Labrador (who has excellent hearing and can hear a gravy-bone drop at 60 metres).
Liz Rothwell
Trustee
Liz is a Teacher of the Deaf working for a Local Authority in the North West but soon to be retired.
She started her career at the Mary Hare Grammar School for the Deaf teaching History and assisting with the pastoral care of the pupils. She qualified as a Teacher of the Deaf during that time and then moved on to Birkdale School for Hearing Impaired Children as Resident Deputy Principal for 18 years. She were fortunate in both schools to have colleagues and mentors who were excellent practitioners of the Natural Aural approach to the education of deaf children and, along with many of them, she became a founder member of DELTA or the National Aural Group as it was then known.
In subsequent years, She extended her training and qualifications to include Masters Qualifications in education of the deaf and in wider special needs after which she worked with children and young people with a range of difficulties including Dyslexia and Specific Language Impairment. For the last few years, she has returned to working with deaf children and young people from babies and their families to mainstream pupils across all age ranges.
Lynn Hounsome
Trustee
When her daughter Megan was eventually diagnosed deaf at 2½, she was living in Surrey and given information about DELTA (then NAG). She went to Summer School in Colchester in 1993. Meg and Lynn have returned to help every year but one since then. In 1995 she moved to South Wales and in 2002 she became Regional Co-ordinator for South Wales and the South West. In 2004 Lynn became a trustee of DELTA, only standing down when the numbers were reduced under the new Charitable Company status. Upon a vacancy, Lynn was reappointed pending the AGM.
Lynn was a Police Inspector in her working life, and she now uses her ‘people skills’ to widen public knowledge about DELTA and the Natural Aural Approach, as well as promoting collective support for parents and their families. Her husband Tony provides me with wholehearted support, and is always ready to chat to other parents in her absence.
After all we have living proof that the Natural Aural Approach works because although being profoundly deaf and not a high flier, Megan successfully sat 10 GCSE’s at our local Comprehensive school with support. She then went on to achieve NVQ’s 2 & 3 and a Foundation Degree within the Health Sector and is working as an HCSW for the NHS.
Cate Statham
Trustee
I trained as a Teacher of the Deaf at the University of Manchester and discovered that aspirations and expectations need not be affected by hearing loss. With the right support and equipment, they could be achieved! I have worked with deaf pupils in schools for the deaf, hearing impaired resource bases and mainstream schools, developing their communication skills so that they have access to the curriculum, and can fulfil their potential. This understanding of the importance of developing spoken language led me to want to develop my knowledge and skills and to train as an Educational Audiologist. In this role I particularly enjoy the opportunities given by the neonatal screening programme to work with families, so that they can make informed decisions for their children: promoting early listening and communication skills: and evaluating new equipment and making the technology work to support pupils and their families.
I am delighted to be a trustee of DELTA
Ellen Arthur
Trustee
Paul Hindson
Trustee
I’m a new trustee, starting in January 2023. However, I’ve had a long relationship with DELTA, which began in 1985 when our first child was born. At the time hearing tests weren’t completed until around 8 months of age. At that time Bethan promptly failed her hearing test, which we expected, but it was still devastating.
We were in the unusual position that my wife, Heulwen, was already a teacher of the deaf, so we knew what to expect in terms of Bethan’s development. Heulwen was already linked up with the National Aural Group (NAG), which was the precursor to DELTA. NAG transformed everything as far as we were concerned. We were so receptive to the philosophy and practice promoted by the NAG summer schools and we applied it all – and it worked. Bethan flourished and we were wholly committed to the NAG approach.
NAG has changed to DELTA since then, but the philosophy has lived on and I’ve no doubt that it made us better parents to our next three children. We just enjoyed natural living language with all of them – and Bethan has continued to grow and develop and have children of her own.
So now I’m semi-retired I was keen to continue supporting the mission of DELTA, which is why I became a trustee.
Luke White
Trustee
Luke has a profound bi-lateral hearing loss (95 – 105db range). This was diagnosed when he was 18 months old. Together with his parents he attended every summer school that NAG/DELTA ran in the 1990s – 2000s. He attended main stream schools for most of his childood and knows first hand the challenges that the young deaf community face.
DELTA helped with this and he believes in the support the charity gives and will always be a strong supporter of DELTA. He has made life-long friends at the charity and has grabbed his opportunities with both hands, and is an amazing example to others.
Currently he is a Senior Project Nurse for Education and International Nurse programme in the Trust. He identifies this as a great opportunity to be a part of the education development for the Trust.
In Lukes words, “I am really proud to be a nurse, even more proud to be a deaf nurse and I really hope that others can see the sky is the limit. I want every deaf person to know that they can achieve with a bit of hard work and determination, the same opportunities as anyone else. DELTA has been crucial to my successes, without the knowledge and support my parents received, they would not know where to turn next or what could be possible.
This is why it is crucial we support DELTA now more than ever.”
Rhi Ellis
Trustee
I am the parent of a profoundly deaf child and early on I discovered that education was instrumental in understanding how best to support deaf children and how we can remove barriers to socialisation
and learning. This made me passionate in ensuring that deaf children and their parents have access to the support they need. Engaging with my child’s teacher of the deaf and through charities such as
DELTA ensured that I was up to date with the most recent teaching strategies for deaf children as well as how to make sure that the appropriate support was in place, be that technical, such as radio aids or in person, with learning support assistants.
My daughter was diagnosed at 9 months and initially wore hearing aids. She was fitted with cochlear implants at the age of 3 and half and attended mainstream schools thoughout her academic career.
She went off to university at the age of 18 and is now living independently and working for a national supermarket chain. She has remarkable speech and listening skills – right down to the local
accent!
I am employed as a lecturer in the Creative Industries and have taught a variety of cohorts, ranging from year 11 disengaged students to Level 4 Foundation Degree learners. During my teaching career
I have worked with deaf teenagers who have communicated through sign language and being very deaf aware has meant that I have been able to ensure inclusivity within the classroom.
I am able to emphasize with parents and to also understand the struggles young deaf people face. This means I can offer relevant guidance. My teaching experience means that I am aware of curriculum demands and assessment requirements. These two strands of life experience mean that
as a Trustee for Delta I hope to bring both a professional element to the demands of learning but also a compassionate and understanding voice to parents with children who are newly diagnosed or
simply looking to overcome a barrier.