Founded in 2019, the SLHF is a grant-making Trust which was formed by the founding members of Christopher Place, The Speech Language and Hearing Centre, a specialist nursery school for babies and young children with speech, language and hearing difficulties, which operated in Kings Cross, London, between 1995 to 2015.
Angela Harding, founder and board member of SLHF, said, ‘Christopher Place remains at the heart of the grant-making decisions now made by the board of trustees. We have always been passionate about innovative and child-centred early intervention for children with speech, language and hearing difficulties in nurseries and schools so that the youngest and most vulnerable members of society, particularly those that have been impacted by the pandemic, can benefit.’
Research published by the Education Endowment Foundation last week found that 76 per cent of children starting school last September needed more support with communication than in previous years as a result of the impact of Covid-19.
Ms Harding said, ‘We are hoping to fund between five to 10 organisations. The amount of funding varies depending on need, and ranges from £500 to up to £15,000 for one to three years. This year, we have so far funded six projects promoting the education and therapeutic support of children who have difficulties with hearing, speech and language or who have complex needs.'
Applications are open solely to organisations that operate as charities registered with the Charity Commission, or charities that hold a Certificate of Exemption from the Inland Revenue. Overseas applicants must supply the details of a UK registered charity through which grants can be channelled on their behalf.
Trustees meet three times a year to consider grant applications on a rolling basis.
The SLHF supports charities working in the following areas:
- Children who have hearing impairment, speech delay, language or communication difficulties, or who have complex needs.
- Medical innovation and new developments relating to these children.
- Research in all topics relating to these children.
Some of the schools to benefit from previous grants include St Mary Magdalene CE Primary School in Westminster; Oxford Gardens Primary School in W10 and Sherwood School in Mitcham, who all have a high percentage of children that require speech and language support. The schools are located in areas of high deprivation and many of the children have English as a second language.
Many of these children do not meet the criteria for education, health and care plans (EHCP) and cannot access speech and language therapy from their local authority. The funding, which is for up to three years, has been used to employ part-time speech and language therapists. Evidence of the impact of the therapy is submitted to the SLHF on an annual basis.
The SLHF values the need for continued research and innovation and it recently funded research into childhood deafness carried out by Action on Hearing Loss, and a pilot project for I Can’s award winning ‘Tots Talking’ Programme in Barnes and Somerset.
Although the majority of the SLHF’s annual donations go to local projects, the SLHF has also supported projects further afield, such as the provision of hearing aids and audiological support to a medical centre in India and to a school for the deaf in South Africa.
More information
Applications are open to schools, nurseries and small national and local charities.
Visit www.slhf.org.uk or email a brief outline of your application to administrator@slhf.org.uk. Include details of your charity registration number or that of your supporting charity, together with a few short paragraphs outlining your project, its overall cost, the amount you will be seeking from the Foundation, and the period over which it will be spent.