Finance Score: -1

Governance Score: 3

Support Score: 5

Spending falling: -1
No PartB

No volunteer policy: -2
12+ Trustees: -1
Good trustee age range: +3
Dynamic board: +3

Grant maker support: +5

Overall GiG Score: 7

ISAAC (UK) LTD

ISAAC UK (also known as Communication Matters) is the UK Chapter of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC) which focuses upon the needs of people with complex communication needs who may benefit from augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems to maximise their opportunities and enhance their life.

Analysis by Giving is Great

Positives:

There have been no material income shortfalls in recent years
A significant proportion of recent income was derived from major grant makers
The Board appears to be well diversified in terms of age and dynamic in terms of composition

Regulatory & Governance issues to consider:

Although this charity works with volunteers it does not have a Volunteer Management policy
There are 14 trustees whereas the Charities Commission recommends a maximum of 12

Financial issues to consider:

A PartB annual return has not been required and so detailed financial information is not available from the online data
Spending has fallen significantly over the last 5 years relative to the previous period
Income has been volatile recently and was substantially in excess of spending in the latest year

Financial Data ?

Income & Spending ?

Sources of Income ?

Y/E		Income £k	Spending £k	Surplus/ Deficit	Fundraising Cost £k	Total Funds £k	Unrestricted Funds £k	Mths Rsrvs	Staff	Volun- teers
31/12/22		£203	£103	£100	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	8
31/12/21		£121	£77	£45	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	6
31/12/20		£134	£85	£49	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	6
31/12/19		£255	£248	£6	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	6
31/12/18		£269	£255	£14	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	12
31/12/17		£270	£275	£-5	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0
31/12/16	*	£233	£263	£-30	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0
31/12/15		£229	£242	£-12	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0
31/12/14		£221	£227	£-6	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0
31/12/13		£210	£335	£-124	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0
31/12/12		£351	£386	£-36	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0
31/12/11		£370	£352	£18	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0
31/12/10		£380	£266	£114	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0
31/12/09		£249	£225	£24	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0
31/12/08		£215	£220	£-4	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0
31/12/07		£188	£158	£30	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0
31/12/06		£174	£160	£14	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0
31/12/05		£161	£187	£-26	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0
31/12/04		£145	£148	£-3	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0

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Highest pay bracket: less than £60,000

Established: 37 years

www.communicationmatters.org.uk

admin@communicationmatters.org.uk

01133431533

Charity Commission for England and Wales

Tweets

Listed activities

Disability
Education/Training

GiG Classification

Scientific research and testing services

How it operates

Makes Grants to Individuals
Makes Grants to Organisations
Provides advocacy/advice/information
Sponsors or undertakes research

Where it operates

Northern Ireland, Scotland, Throughout England And Wales,

Who it helps

Children/Young People
Elderly/Old People
Other Charities Or Voluntary Bodies
Other Defined Groups
People With Disabilities

Who works here?

Unknown number of employees
8 volunteers

Who's supporting them? ?

Donations from Grant Makers ?

We have details on the following significant donations. Multi-year donations are allocated to the years for which they are earmarked.

Major supporters in last 5 years

DCMS	£28,478
National Lottery Community Fund	£19,750
The Foyle Foundation	£5,000

Specific Donations

Amount	When Months	To be used for
National Lottery Community Fund - Mentoring project - Scotland
£9,850	26/10/2022	The group will use the funding to pilot a mentoring project for people using Augmentative and Alternative Communication (forms of communication other than spoken word). The project will help people ....more The group will use the funding to pilot a mentoring project for people using Augmentative and Alternative Communication (forms of communication other than spoken word). The project will help people gain a mentor qualification so that they can then help others to use their AAC devices and methods as well as raise awareness of AAC devices in the wider community.
National Lottery Community Fund - Personal development for AAC users
£9,900	16/12/2021	ISAAC UK (Communication Matters) which is working in the Greater Belfast area is using a £9900 grant to train six young people with disabilities who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication to ....more ISAAC UK (Communication Matters) which is working in the Greater Belfast area is using a £9900 grant to train six young people with disabilities who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication to build their confidence and develop their skills to enable them to act as peer mentors.
The Foyle Foundation - Small Grants
£5,000	30/09/2020	towards ongoing costs to continue supporting people with communication disabilities over twelve months (awarded grant in response to coronavirus)
DCMS - Coronavirus Community Support Fund
£28,478	29/09/2020	"The fund aims to:1) To reduce closures of essential charities that provide essential services to vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 crisis by ensuring they have the financial resources to ....more "The fund aims to:1) To reduce closures of essential charities that provide essential services to vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 crisis by ensuring they have the financial resources to operate, thereby reducing the burden on public services.2) To ensure essential services are provided to vulnerable people, both in the short and long term through increased community support through the work of charitable organisations."
National Lottery Community Fund - Mentoring for disabled young people
£142,257	17/01/2019 60	The project will support those with complex communication disabilities across all ages and conditions, all of whom use other methods of speaking known as 'Augmentative and Alternative Communication'. ....more The project will support those with complex communication disabilities across all ages and conditions, all of whom use other methods of speaking known as 'Augmentative and Alternative Communication'. This This project will offer a strength based approach to provide learning and development opportunities for disabled young people through connecting them with their peers and assisting them to increase future opportunities for community involvement.
National Lottery Community Fund - Mentoring training for communication disabled young people
£9,572	04/01/2017 12	The funding will be used to train eight young people who have communication difficulties as peer mentors for other young people with similar difficulties. The project aims to strengthen the community ....more The funding will be used to train eight young people who have communication difficulties as peer mentors for other young people with similar difficulties. The project aims to strengthen the community by providing support in order to reduce isolation and increase engagement, increasing peopleâ€™s ability to advocate on behalf of young people with communication difficulties.
John Ellerman Foundation - Core funding
£50,000	21/07/2016 24	Towards the core costs of its work in supporting individuals with no speech who communicate through augmentative and alternative communication systems.
National Lottery Community Fund - Communication Matters Online Training
£10,000	21/12/2010 12	This is a project by a community organisation in Oxford. The group will use the money to develop extensive online training resources for everyone involved in Augmentative and Alternative ....more This is a project by a community organisation in Oxford. The group will use the money to develop extensive online training resources for everyone involved in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). This will provide services that meet the needs of the AAC community, whether they be family members, carers or professionals.

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Data sourced from Donors via 360 Giving

How is it governed?

Trustees (14)

Current Trustees appointed

Gender Split

Age Range of Trustees: 30-63

BETHANY MOULAM Appointed: 2022, Occupation: N/A

CHRISTINA VOIZEY Appointed: 2021, Occupation: Send Consultant

JENNETTE GREENWOOD Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Aac / At Consultant

JOANNA VAN BERCKEL Appointed: 2023

KATHERINE BROOMFIELD Appointed: 2021, Occupation: Researcher

MICHELLE PATON Appointed: 2022, Occupation: Speech And Language Therapist

NARINDER SAGOO Appointed: 2022, Occupation: Uk & International Sales Manager

SARAH MARIE MCPOLAND Appointed: 2022, Occupation: Advisory Speech And Language Therapist

AMY ELIZABETH HANSCHELL Appointed: 2017, Occupation: No Business Occupation

ANDREA SHARPLES Appointed: 2019, Occupation: Clinical Director

HELEN HEWSON Appointed: 2021, Occupation: None

HELEN WHITTLE Appointed: 2018, Occupation: Speech And Language Therapist

MARTIN PHILLIP FISHER Appointed: 2018, Occupation: Manager

SAFFRON MURPHY-MANN Appointed: 2018, Occupation: Aac Coordinator

Legal constitution

Charitable company registered in England & Wales on 12/08/1987, number: 327500
Registered at Companies House on 26/11/1985, number: 01965474

Gift Aid

Registered with HMRC for Gift Aid

Policies in force

Complaints handling
Conflicting interests
Paying staff
Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries

Filing Record

19 returns made; AR16: 40 days late,

Main office

3rd Floor, University House
University of Leeds
Woodhouse Lane
LEEDS
LS2 9JT

Objectives

4.1 THE ONLY OBJECTS FOR WHICH THE CHARITY IS ESTABLISHED ARE FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT TO:4.1.1 PROMOTE, UNDERTAKE, ENCOURAGE AND PROVIDE THE FACILITIES FOR RESEARCH INTO COMMUNICATION IMPAIRMENTS;4.1.2 PROMOTE, UNDERTAKE, ENCOURAGE AND PROVIDE FACILITIES FOR THE TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION OF PERSONS WHO HAVE OR ARE RECOVERING FROM COMMUNICATION IMPAIRMENTS;4.1.3 PROMOTE AND PROTECT THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OF PEOPLE WITH COMMUNICATION IMPAIRMENTS PARTICULARLY BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY THROUGH THE USE OF AUGMENTATIVE AND ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION (AAC) TECHNIQUES AND STRATEGIES;4.1.4 PROMOTE, UNDERTAKE, ENCOURAGE AND PROVIDE FACILITIES FOR THE PUBLICATION AND EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION RELATING TO RESEARCH INTO COMMUNICATION IMPAIRMENTS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNIQUES OR TREATMENTS FOR THE RELIEF OF SUCH IMPAIRMENTS INCLUDING AAC;4.1.5 ADVANCE THE EDUCATION OF MEMBERS AND THE PUBLIC IN THE SUBJECT OF THE NEEDS OF PEOPLE WITH COMMUNICATION IMPAIRMENTS.“COMMUNICATION IMPAIRMENTS” MEANS IMPAIRMENTS WHICH CREATE COMMUNICATION NEEDS AND WHICH MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH IMPAIRMENTS OF SPEECH, HEARING AND SIGHT AND THE RESULT OF CONGENITAL OR ACQUIRED PHYSICAL AND/OR COGNITIVE OR LEARNING DISABILITY WHETHER ARISING FROM SICKNESS OR INJURY OR ANY OTHER CAUSE.“AAC” INCLUDES UNAIDED SYSTEMS SUCH AS SIGNING AND GESTURES AND AIDED TECHNIQUES SUCH AS PICTURE SYMBOLS AND HIGH-TECH EQUIPMENT WHICH ASSISTS THOSE WITH COMMUNICATION NEEDS TO COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY WITH OTHERS.

Defined Area of Benefit:

NOT DEFINED

Data Sources