We have been supporting Panathlon’s sports programme for deaf children since 2014 and have been an official partner since 2020. The sports charity began with a boccia tournament which, following a successful pilot in the London area, was then rolled out to deaf children in the Midlands, the North West, the North East and East England. The sports programme has expanded and now includes tennis, football, swimming and ten-pin bowling.
‘The backing of OHF has been instrumental to the rapid growth of events and participation numbers,’ said Tony Waymouth of Panathlon. ‘Our deaf events have positively impacted over 1,500 young people in the last year alone, giving them a vital platform to fulfil their potential and thrive in an environment where they feel safe and supported. This would not have been possible without OHF’s support.’
Our most recent grants have supported a range of sporting opportunities for deaf children and young people, including cricket, swimming and New Age Kurling. A P.E. Co-ordinator, whose school won a Panathlon swimming gala at the London Aquatics Centre, said, ‘Every student who wants to compete, can! Panathlon is about celebrating the individual progress, effort and achievement of all those involved. It’s a perfect mix of ability and inclusion.’
England Deaf Cricket International player James Dixon has recently joined Panathlon, organising activities in North West England. ‘It’s been great to work with schools in the North West through Panathlon and see the pupils develop in confidence, and learn that you can break down barriers,’ he said. ‘When I give out medals and certificates, I can see the difference it makes to those pupils and it’s wonderful.’
We are supporting a number of fantastic projects to bring deaf children and young people together in London, Birmingham and York.
Remark! Community runs a weekly youth club in North London. Our grant has supported the appointment of a new co-ordinator to lead activities. Recent highlights have included a cookery workshop led by a professional chef in a commercial kitchen, and a tour of Dulwich Picture Gallery from a local Deaf historian. ‘The club has given the opportunity to many Deaf young people within London, to come together, build their social skills, make new friends and feel like they belong within a community,’ said Trustee and founder Jonny.
We have also helped Remark!’s charity partner Deaf-SELF to deliver their summer play scheme in South East London. ‘Your support has gone a long way in allowing us to continue providing our Deaf play scheme, which has now been supporting Deaf children for the past 19 years,’ said Annie, Treasurer of Deaf-SELF.
Around 60 children and young people participate in the play scheme each summer, with activities including football, arts and crafts, and day trips to the seaside. OHF’s support at a critical time has helped Deaf-SELF not only to continue its service, but also to secure match funding from another grantmaker.
OHF is supporting Birmingham Institute for the Deaf (BID) Services’ youth provision for deaf children and young people in Birmingham and the surrounding areas.
BID’s youth services include a weekly club that offers 35-40 deaf children and young people activities such as arts and crafts, drama, sports and story time. BID also offer a holiday scheme, and highlights have included a trip to a Winter Wonderland and West Midlands Safari Park, and science and sports events. They also invite deaf presenters to the group to enhance their provision and promote deaf role models.
BID provides its members, aged 15-18 years, with the opportunity to part in their Youth Leaders programme. Once trained, the Youth Leaders go on to support the club’s activities, while also developing their own skills and confidence.
OHF has supported Lollipop’s Raising Aspirations project. The project delivers monthly term-time activities for 66 deaf children and young people based in York and North Yorkshire.
Highlights from the year have included bushcraft and archery, a family Christmas party, pizza making, trampolining and visits to an escape room and a chocolate factory. They also took part in samba drumming workshops organised by another OHF-supported project I Can Play! (National Centre for Early Music).
The charity celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2024, with one parent writing in their newsletter: ‘What an amazing charity! You have provided invaluable support from the very start. It was so helpful to meet other families with deaf children and we have formed friendships for life.’ Another parent added: ‘Thank you for 20 years of making happy occasions.’
We also support a number of parent-led groups for deaf children and their families:
Funky Kids in Walsall offers its 400 plus members a range of activities designed to reduce social isolation. These include a deaf baby and toddler group, a youth club, a football club, weekly coffee mornings, monthly themed events, and special events such as a Mother’s Day afternoon tea and a prom for teenagers. There have also been days out to Dudley Zoo and the seaside at Llandudno and Barmouth. In addition to social activities, Funky Kids offers wider support to families, such as sharing donated clothes and toys, providing children’s lunches and offering reduced-price refreshments. They provide a warm, welcoming environment, including a new nursery, and a sensory garden with a sandpit, vegetable garden, sensory walls and a barefoot walk.
‘This has been a fantastic opportunity for families to socialise and gain support from us and one another and also to share experiences,’ said Simone, manager and founder. ‘It has been lovely to see how the group has grown and developed and how they have built great friendship groups.’
‘Events are fantastic with a wide range of activities available for all,’ said one of Funky Kids’ volunteers, ‘I am so happy to be a part of such a wonderful team that goes above and beyond to help these families.’
We are also supporting three other parent-led youth groups: Sign School in Cardiff, Saturday Kids’ Zone in Portsmouth and Deaf Kids Connect in Worthing. Read more about these three groups in our Summer 2025 newsletter.
We have supported a project at Toy Like Me, an arts and play not-for-profit working to inspire positive representation of disability among children, their families and teachers, and the toy industry. See It Be It is an interactive exhibition celebrating the wide variety of jobs held by D/deaf adults. OHF has funded six exhibition packs, containing display panels and activity materials, which have been shared with schools. Children use tokens to select their favourite jobs, and also create and add images of their own dream jobs. ‘I learnt deaf people can do lots of jobs,’ said one young person. ‘I feel excited to try lots of opportunities.’ We are now supporting Toy Like Me as they turn See It Be It into an interactive board game.
Past projects:
We helped Deafness Support Network to deliver Youth Vibe, their group for deaf children and young people in the Cheshire area, for three years. Our grant supported the Youth Vibe activity timetable for 8-19 years, plus the provision of opportunities for their Young Leaders, aged 13-25 years, to volunteer within these sessions.
We supported The Ear Foundation’s activities holidays for deaf young people from 2016-2019, funding places for those who would otherwise have struggled to attend.
The breaks in the Derbyshire countryside brought young people together for five days of stream scrambling, canoeing, caving, and on the last night, a talent show. Many of the participants had limited contact with their deaf peers so the holidays provided a much-needed opportunity to mix and make friends. ‘The best holiday ever!’ said one young person.
We also contributed toward The Ear Foundation’s first activities weekend for deaf children aged 8-13 years, 16 ‘Tweens’ took part in activities including canoeing, wall climbing and abseiling. ‘Thank you for the incredible experience you shared with our daughter,’ said one parent. ‘We are in awe of the feats she has faced (and climbed and jumped off!), and feel indebted to all of you for helping her to find her inner courage and confidence.’
We supported The Ear Foundation’s course for young deaf leaders, with participants going on to help lead the summer residential. ‘This has helped me become the person I want to be,’ said one young person on the leadership course. ‘It has been so inspiring.’ In summer 2019, The Ear Foundation’s Speech and Language Therapist Clare made a video describing the impact of OHF’s support: Click here to view the video on You Tube.
Very sadly, The Ear Foundation closed in 2020. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of their inspiring work by supporting their activities holidays for deaf children and young people.