Henrietta Ireland, executive director of Deaf Choices UK (formerly Cued Speech UK) talks readers through a week in her life post-rebrand and with a multitude of other things on her to-do-list.
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Monday

I love my job. I’ve been in post for seven years and every single day is different. We’re a small team of eight, all working part-time. All of us come from different backgrounds, which means we each bring unique skills and knowledge. We have a busy week ahead. My main focuses will be writing funding applications, networking and discussing lead projects with the team. I also need to prepare for our meeting of Trustees on Saturday morning.

Most days I feed my horses on the way to work. It’s raining but I’m relieved the chickens haven’t escaped again. Today there are five of us in the office. Our business manager, Louise Creed, and I start the day discussing our next round of funding applications to cover both core costs and projects.

Then I catch up with Kathy Kenny, our lead choice advisor, to prepare for our meeting tomorrow with Anthony Mangnall MP for Totnes. Kathy also fills me in on her lovely new referral, a six-month-old baby, that came to us through Plymouth audiology. The baby is profoundly deaf and her mum is very keen to learn how to cue. Kathy has arranged to visit again next week.

Next, we have our weekly Zoom meeting to discuss our new learning resource, Nan in a Van. We are all excited about the programme, it looks fantastic. Kathy is currently trialling it in three local schools and has had excellent feedback, with children already gaining more confidence with literacy learning through the tools. Creating it has been a wonderful journey and we can’t wait to take it into more schools across the region.

Tonight is running night. I belong to a Hash group (drinkers with a running problem!) We trail run all through the year with head-torches in the winter. My partner, Paul, and I set out in the pouring rain to run four miles through the muddy lanes of Devon with our small dog. We finish with a pint and chips in a local hostelry. Fabulous!

Tuesday

Today I take my Grandchildren to nursery and school – they are 3 and 5. Both of their parents are doctors at the hospital, so it’s an early start. The usual chaos of getting children up, dressed and breakfasted, finding shoes, books and backpacks ensues. I’m not sure how I managed this for so many years as a mum of four!

I take the small dog to work with me today. I love having animals in our office, they provide a welcome distraction and feel like part of the team. I pop the small dog in a chair and get started with my day. At 11.30 Kathy and I have our meeting with Anthony Mangnall MP, the SEND lead and commissioner for Devon’s special services. The meeting is a success and the Nan in a Van (along with our wider work) is received very well. We make plans to work together to disseminate the resource in schools across Devon. On the way back to the office we decide to pick up cakes from the local baker as a well-earned treat for ourselves and the team.

In the afternoon I begin to write another funding application. I have to leave early to pick up the children. We walk back through the park with my small dog in the pouring rain. Tuesday evenings are singing nights which I do with a wonderful acapella group in Bovey Tracey.

Wednesday

The DCUK Training Lead, Cate Calder is in the office today for two days this week. Cate works remotely from Gloucestershire but comes down to Devon every month for three days. We have a coffee together and discuss Nan in a Van. We plan our strategy for taking it into more local schools and further development. Cate has also created a game to help children learn sounds, letters, segmenting, and blending. We talk about rolling this out to more schools, too. We finish by running through my latest funding application and how this will tie in with Nan in a Van.

Wednesday afternoon is our team meeting time. We have two family practitioners working in other regions that dial in. Sagira, who works in Hertfordshire, and Carly, who is based in Newcastle, join us via Zoom. Kathy and I are visiting Sagira next week to shadow her on some home visits, so we confirm our schedule with her. We recently rebranded from Cued Speech UK to Deaf Choices UK to better reflect the work we do. It was a huge undertaking but ultimately so worth it. The whole team was involved in the rebrand, and it’s great to hear from everyone in the meeting that they’re so excited about our fresh new look and feel. They added that parents and caretakers we support now better understand how we can help them, even just from our new name and website.

Thursday

I work from home today. I will be catching up on emails, re-writing a funding application (for the tenth time) and finalising our agenda for our trustee meeting on Saturday. I like doing these types of tasks at home, where I can really tune in and focus. This evening I put the small dog in a backpack with its head stuck out of the top and ride my bike to the railway station. I’m working on getting cycle-fit in preparation for an upcoming trip.

Friday

Friday is a day off for me but I need to make sure everything is in place for our meeting with Trustees on Saturday morning. Afterwards, I go on a bike ride and reflect on how lucky I am to have such a great job, work with fantastic people, and live in a beautiful area of the world… even if it is raining and I’m getting wet again!
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Deaf Choices UK (DCUK) (formerly Cued Speech UK) is a Charity which supports families to make the right choice for language, literacy and communication, at the right time for their deaf child. Interventions are offered at no cost to families and DCUK visit families across the UK at home or via Zoom.

Henrietta Ireland has been executive director of Deaf Choices UK since 2017. Since its inception more than 50 years ago, DCUK has helped over 30,000 people learn to 'cue' - a manual system of 8 handshapes in 4 positions near the mouth which clarifies the lip-patterns of speech. The charity also offers support for families that choose other communication methods including British Sign Language, lip reading, Makathon, and many more.

DCUK is currently disseminating and trialling a unique literacy resource for Key Stage 1 deaf and SEND children called ‘Nan in a Van’ (NIAV). NIAV is a resource written and produced by DCUK and includes lesson plans, e-books, hard-copy books and worksheets.

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