How your donation could be spent
As little as £5 can bring enjoyment to a deafblind child’s life. Or donate more and help a deafblind person to learn to communicate and develop so they can achieve their own goals and ambitions.
This list shows a range of services starting from £5 up to £250, 000.
£5 to £100
£150 to £1000
£1,500 to £10,000
£15,000 to £50,000
£75,000 to £250,000
£5 to £100
£5 Musical bells
A musical toy for a deafblind child to explore and enjoy, stimulating the child’s limited hearing.
£5 Aromatherapy
A set of aromatherapy oils to help stimulate a deafblind child’s senses.
£7.50 Sailing
An hour’s sailing trip for a deafblind child to feel the wind on their face on their Sense holiday.
£10 Toy cymbals
Toy cymbals to help stimulate even the tiniest amount of a deafblind child’s hearing in a fun music therapy session.
Pottery class
An hour’s pottery session for a deafblind child, allowing them to explore the world around them through touch and smell.
Trampolining
A fun afternoon of trampolining supported by a Sense worker who the deafblind person knows and trusts.
£15 Tactile book
A tactile book to develop a child’s sense of sight and touch at a Sense Family Centre.
£18 Toy xylophone
To help stimulate even the tiniest amount of a deafblind child’s hearing in a fun music therapy session.
£20 An hour for independence
An hour with a Sense support worker who will be the eyes and ears of an older deafblind person, helping them to remain independent by giving a hand with the shopping, visiting the post office or a trip to church.
£25 Light tube
An interactive light tube to help stimulate a deafblind child’s remaining sight.
£30 Music therapy
An enjoyable music therapy session.
Chocolate making
To stimulate their senses of smell touch and taste through chocolate making on their Sense holiday.
£50 Pony riding
An afternoon’s pony riding at Sense’s stables in Peterborough.
£75 Shake rattle and drum-roll
A selection of musical instruments that will help to stimulate the hearing of deafblind children in music therapy sessions.
£100 Arts and crafts
Art and craft materials for a creative session on a Sense Family Day.
£150 to £1000
£150 Sailing
For a child who has no sight or hearing life can too easily become routine with few things to remember fondly. Your gift could enable a deafblind child to experience an activity they woud never dream possible. Something that they’ll never forget like a day’s sailing.
£150 Family day
A full day of fun and educational activities for a deafblind child and their family or carers.
£250 Sensory trails
Kit out the home of a deafblind person with sensory ‘trails’ enabling them to live in a safe secure environment.
£500 Support for an older person for a month
Our specialist community support workers provide a friendly set of eyes and ears. They visit older deafblind people once a week, offering practical help at home, and enabling the deafblind person to get out and about – perhaps to go to the post office or to visit the doctors.
£650 Holiday or Family Day
To take a deafblind child on holiday or provide them and their family with the opportunity to join our Family Day.
£960 to £1000 A Child’s Developmental Assessment
For a child to undergo a specialised educational development assessment to establish what a child’s learning and communication abilities are.
£1000 Stables running costs
Helps Sense run our Stables for a week. Your gift provides horse feed, bedding and other equipment for the 3 horses housed in our Stables in Peterborough and enjoyed by around 25 deafblind people.
£1,500 to £10,000
£1500 Sense Family Day
Many families describe the stress and isolation of bringing up a child with special needs. Our Family Days bring together around 100 family members, deafblind people, staff and volunteers to share experiences, gain strength from each other and have a break.
£1000 Sonic chair
Could pay for a sonic chair for a sensory room designed to stimulate and explore vision, hearing and cognitive behaviour.These facilities help us teach deafblind children that they can have some control over the world around them.
£2000 Child’s Development Assessment and follow up
For a child to undergo a specialised educational development assessment to establish what a child’s learning and communication abilities are. The assessment is followed up by three home visits to advise on making the home environment safe and stimulating for the deafblind child.
Therapeutic course
A course of weekly yoga or art therapy sessions at a specialist Sense day centre for a group of 5 deafblind people and their support workers.
£5000 Sensory Room Equipment
Could pay equipment in one of our sensory rooms. The room is interactive with equipment operated by remote sensors, switch boards, and contact sensors. Microphones encourage deafblind people to use their voices to operate lights and sounds in the room whilst the other soft switches require different movements to alter the atmosphere.
£10,000 An MSI Teacher Family Support Worker
A Multi Sensory Impairment Teacher offers skilled assessments, and advises families about the best ways to help their children to learn and develop. They listen, they counsel, they support around 40 families in their local area. This figure covers the post for 4 months.
£15,000 to £50,000
£15,000 A Family Support Worker
A Family Support Worker (FSW) regularly keeps in touch with the family, following up on the groundwork established by the MSI Teacher. They are there to help apply the MSI Teacher's recommendations in the home and in the schools. This amount could pay for one part-time FSW for a year.
£25,000 Information officer
A vital first point of contact, advice and support for families, individuals and professionals with regard to deafblind issues and the support Sense provides. This figure covers the post for one year, during which time the Officer will deal with nearly 2000 enquiries.
£30,000 MSI Teacher
A Multi-Sensory Impairment Teacher, typically working with 40 children for one year.
£30,000 Family Support worker
A Family Support Worker who offers skilled assessments, and advises families about the best ways to help their children to learn and develop.They listen, they counsel, they support around 40 families in their local area.
£50,000 Stables running costs
Helps Sense run our Stables for one year. Your gift provides horse feed, bedding and other equipment for the 3 horses housed in our Stables in Peterborough and enjoyed by around 25 deafblind people.
£75,000 to £250,000
£75,000 Older Persons Partnership Workers
Allows Sense to provide two expert professionals working with older deafblind people, carrying out specialist assessments of an older person’s needs, and organising appropriate services and support for them.
£100,000 Information and Library service
Development and delivery of Sense Library and Information service.
£135,000 Usher national programme
Sense provides advice and support to people with Usher and their families, especially around the time of diagnosis; information materials to enquirers; practical help with benefits and entitlements; and training about Usher to professionals such as teachers and medical staff. Some of our Usher Information and Outreach Officers have Usher syndrome themselves.
£250,000 Training
Training and professional development for Primary Care Trusts and other professionals.
