Hear & Say Centre

Hear and Say is one of the leading Paediatric Auditory-Verbal and cochlear implant centres in the world, teaching children who are deaf or hearing impaired to listen and speak since 1992. For twenty years we have provided a family based program recognising the parent as the natural language teacher for their child. Our aim is for all children to achieve age appropriate speech and language like their hearing peers by six years of age giving them the opportunity to attend local schools, have wider employment choices and better social integration with our hearing world. We are a recognised charity with centres in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Cairns and Toowoomba including an Outreach program for rural and remote children and their families. It costs Hear and Say approximately $10,000 each year for up to five years to teach one deaf child to learn to listen and speak. With 500+ children anticipated in our program in 2012 this means we must rely on our fundraising events and activities and the generous support of our donors and partners. To find out more about the work we do at Hear and Say and how you can help make a difference please explore our Website. We also invite you to visit the Hear and Say Face book and Blog.

Address

PO Box 930
Toowong 4066
Queensland

Website: www.hearandsaycentre.com.au

Contact

Name: Development Manager Robyn Symons

Phone: 07 3870 2221

Fax: 07 3870 2953

» Contact Hear & Say Centre

Mission / Objective

Our aim is for all deaf children to achieve age appropriate speech and language like their hearing peers by six years of age giving them the opportunity to attend local schools, have wider employment choices and better social integration with our hearing world.

Services

• A supportive, highly qualified staff providing a safe and nurturing environment for Hear and Say children and families

• An Auditory-Verbal Early Intervention Program that is of world class standard and adheres to the principles of the AG Bell Academy (www.agbellacademy.org)

• A unique not-for-profit organisation that is leading the world in the provision of listening and spoken language skills for children who are deaf and their families. Hear and Say is empowering parents to teach their children with hearing loss to listen, understand spoken language and to speak so that these children are able to realise their full potential in a hearing world

• An Early Intervention Program that provides an intensive, tailored and coordinated service that meets the needs of the child and the family wherever they may be on their journey

• A Cochlear Implant Program that supports our current cohort of children, Early Intervention graduates, and a range of other children and young adults with new and differing technology needs, from interstate or overseas and from culturally diverse backgrounds

• Outreach services that continue to grow and cover an area in Queensland alone that is larger than the UK or Texas, USA

• Social Skills Programs that encourage and promote self esteem, resilience and life skills from four years of age through to young adults

• Parent Education classes and counselling and support for the whole family

• Liaison and consultation with a range of educational and medical personnel

Beneficiary Group

Babies and children under 6 years of age enter the program on diagnosis of their hearing loss and graduate at 6 six years of age to enter mainstream schools.

Children who receive a cochlear implant remain in the Hear and Say Cochlear Implant program until they are 21 years of age to have their implant fine tuned, to receive a bilateral implant and associated therapy or for trouble shooting of their implant.

Hear and Say keeps in touch with its graduates and graduate families and has established a close community of people who continue to feel a close bond with Hear and Say.

Annual Report:

application/pdf icon2010-11_annual_report_web_version.pdf

Projects in Progress

A capital campaign titled Project Possibiity has been launched to raise $10 million to enable Hear and Say in Brisbane to relocate to a new premises. This has been necessary the current premises in Auchenflower have become inadequate to meet current and estimated future demand.

The Queensland Government has pledged $2.5 million towards the campaign however additional support is critical. This is a critical component of our funding program in 2012 and over the next period.

Hear and Say receives 30% of its operational funding needs from the Queensland Government but raise the remainder through corporate and community support and its own fundraising endeavours.

In 2012 this will amount to over $3 million dollars. In addition to raising the funding for the core business of teaching deaf children to hear, listen and speak, additional funding is continually being sought for support programs for children and their families such as Parent Support & Education, Adolescent Social Skills and Transition into School.

Hear and Say has an excellent record in running professional and entertaining fundraising events such as corporate golf days and dinners and we encourage organisaitosn to contact us to work on new funding initiatives.

CEO

Dr Dimity Dornan AM, AO Managing Director and Founder

Hear and Say was founded by Dimity Dornan in 1992. In 2012 Hear and Say is celebrating its 20 years.

Dimity has received many awards for her work with deaf children including the 2003 Queensland Australian of the Year, 2005 Australian Social Entrepreneur of the Year, 2010 Suncorp Queenslander of the Year and 2011 Telstra Business Woman of the Year for Qld.

Hear and Say’s Clinical team is outstanding meeting world recognised training levels including eight internationally certified Auditory-Verbal Therapists of only 450 worldwide, plus an additional seven Auditory-Verbal Therapists, and six audiologists.

Board Members

A full list of board members can be found on the website at http://www.hearandsaycentre.com.au/annual-report.html 

 

   

Number of Employees

46

Number of Volunteers

100

ABN

32 058 430 069

Tax Deductible

Yes

Wills and Bequests

Leave a gift that lasts a lifetime...the gift to a deaf child of sound and speech! A bequest in your will is a way to ensure that you leave a legacy for future generations.

To make a bequest to the Hear and Say Centre, include the following wording: I give, to Hear and Say - Centre for Deaf Children Limited, free from all charges the sum of $... (or the whole of my residuary estate) for its charitable purposes thereof, and direct that the receipt of the secretary or other proper officer of the Centre for the time being shall be sufficient discharge to my trustees for such a gift.

We recognise that you may like to keep your intentions private, but if you would like to be included in our special group who remember the Centre in their will, please let us know. We would welcome the opportunity to recognise your kindness in making this gift to future children and would like to thank you personally and invite you to visit us and keep you updated with the Centre's work. Contact Robyn Symons on robyn@hearandsaycentre.com.au or phone 07 3870 2221

General Donations

Donations to the building appeal or the general fundraising can be made directly on the website or by phone, email or mail: www.hearandsaycentre.com.au / mail@hearandsaycentre.com.au.

There are many ways that individuals and corporates can donate. These include work place giving, monthy instalments and donations in lieu of gifts. We can also talk about individual partnership or sponsorship opportunities. 

Increasing in popularity is the Hear and Say Gold Wing Program. This program enables an individual or business to sponsor a child for 12 months. The funds raised through this program provides the full therapy program for one year for one child and can be paid in one amount of $10,000 or $835.00 monthly

Please contact Robyn Symons 07 3870 2221 or email robyn@hearandsaycentre.com.au to discuss donations, partnership or sponsorship opportunities.

Volunteering

We welcome volunteers as the back bone of our organisational success.

Contact the centres for offers of volunteer assistance

  • Brisbane (07) 3870 2221
  • Gold Coast (07) 5562 1877
  • Sunshine Coast (07) 5441 0400
  • Cairns (07) 4041 1840

Other support

Pro bono support is welcome. Please contact us to discuss opportunities

Jobs available on Pro Bono Australia

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