METEC Coronavirus Appeal

We are determined to fight on and publicise the excellent work we are achieving with deaf and disabled children, young people and adults, both nationally and internationally.

Dear Friends & Colleagues,

As a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, we realise that our educational technology enterprises are going to suffer financially. We are determined to fight on and publicise the excellent work we are achieving with deaf and disabled children, young people and adults, both nationally and internationally.

The METEC consortium aims to invest in a future where emerging digital online technologies, healthy living, improved accessibility, new business opportunities, more sport & creative arts / music can break down communication barriersand dramatically improve the quality of life of this and future generations of deaf and disabled people.

I would very much like to encourage you to think of how you, and your network of friends and colleagues, might support METEC at this Coronavirus landmark in our development.

It would be wonderful if we could, through all our respective connections, raise a substantial amount of funds towards our “INVESTING IN THE FUTURE OF METEC”.

If you wish to donate, please either make cheques payable to DECIBELS or use our Decibels website forms including Gift Aid

Many thanks indeed for your anticipated support.

Donate via Decibels

Welcome to Deaf Sports First

Our Charitable Objects are specifically restricted to the following:

To relieve the disability of those who are deaf or who have associated disabilities (deaf / blind, deaf / dyslexic, deaf / speech impaired etc.) through the provision of grants either directly to the beneficiaries or to organisations working to help them participate in sports including football, and by:

Providing sporting events and activity programmes to enable Deaf people from the grassroots to all other levels to participate in different sports in a comfortable environment where their communication needs are catered for

Organising a wide variety of programmes for deaf children, young people and adults to improve mental health issues, wellbeing, speech, language and communication needs through different sporting activities

Undertaking research and development projects into sports & medical science, inclusiveness, leadership and information communications technology to enhance the advancement of deaf people in society

Any such other support as the trustees deem appropriate.

Deaf Faculty for Innovation, Research, Sports & Technology (working name 'Deaf Sports First') is a Registered Charity with Registration Number 1175408 and a Social Enterprise Company Limited by Guarantee which was set up on August 6th 2014 with a registration number of 9164509.

We want to encourage and promote the well being of deaf people through sport

Our Main Purpose

Deaf Sports First’s core purpose and focus is to support D/deaf sports players, coaches and managers to fulfil their potential in their chosen sport and meet their sporting goals.

What we aim to achieve

We are looking to assist any D/deaf person in the UK whether in education, in or seeking work to maximise their sporting potential.

That support can come in various forms, such as communication, logistics, sport training, fitness training, sports & science technology, grants, dieticians etc or collectively within a package of support systems.

To provide required support we will invest in trainers, coaches, sport scientists and training centres who will adapt to provide the maximum benefit from their services for D/deaf sports people/coaches and managers. They will also be able to apply for grants to support their National/International competitions.

How we aim to meet our obligations

This support will be financed from funds raised by Deaf Sports First. Funding will be raised through a variety of methods from appeals, direct marketing to philanthropic donors and generous benefactors either as individuals or corporate organisations and businesses.

Fund-raising will be one of the core processes of Deaf Sports First to ensure sufficient funds can be shared by as many D/deaf sports players as possible.

Support will be available to teams and non-team sports players pursuing their chosen sporting aspiration.

Thank-you from Great Britain Deaf Football

Chris Beech and Sharon Hirshman are Chair and Vice Chair of GBDF, as well as being Directors of Deaf Sports First.

GBDF (Great Britain Deaf Football) would like to express immense gratitude to Deaf Sports First for their great support in enabling the team to raise the final £26,000 towards our grand total of £100K to send both, Men and Women, teams to Samsun (Turkey) for the Deaflympics 2017 this summer. Despite their best efforts the Men came a respectable 6th place after losing on penalties to Italy in the Quarter Final and the Women lost out on a Bronze medal by losing to Brazil 2-1 in a tense 3/4th place playoff encounter.

Without this support from Deaf Sports First, GBDF would not have been able to send the teams to compete at this great Deaflympics. Despite falling short of winning medals, a total of 50 people benefited from this incredible character and confidence building experience where they were able to test themselves against the world’s best whilst developing other interpersonal skills that will stay with them for the rest of their lives

Failure breeds success, and it never fails.

Deaf Sports First wants to perpetuate the philosophy that “failure breeds success and it never fails”. Most successful people in their respective fields of endeavour always say that being outstanding at any skill requires a tremendous amount of hard work, dedication and belief in your ability to succeed.

We are aiming to raise £94K over the next year to establish our programmes and run Deaf Sports First in a professional and user friendly manner.