Congratulations to Lidia Best who has been awarded The Heather Jackson Award for her significant contribution to the improvement of the welfare and opportunity of deafened people.
Lidia who is currently the chair of NADP (National Association of Deafened People) became hard of hearing at the age of 12 before completely losing her hearing in 2008.
She has been proactive in ensuring the needs of deafened people have been heard, rising to the challenges faced by people with a hearing loss during the pandemic.
Most recently Lidia has organised webinars to help deafened people become familiar with the various remote meeting platforms currently being utilized, as well as providing training for remote meeting organisers to ensure their meetings are fully accessible.
We also want to congratulate runner up Shona Hudson, a dedicated volunteer for Hearing Link who has facilitated many Hearing Link Self-Management Programmes, supporting beneficiaries and their families as well as other volunteers. And the second runner up Gill Pestell, a volunteer at Hearing Link (and before that with Hearing Concern), who has undertaken a variety of roles as well as setting up hard of hearing groups, organised seminars and awareness days.
The Heather Jackson Award is presented jointly by the National Association of Deafened People (NADP), Signature, and Hearing Link. The award is made annually to a deafened person who has made a significant contribution to the improvement of the welfare and opportunities of deafened people, as well as enhanced positive relationships between deafened and hearing people.
The award, created in 2008 serves as a memorial to Heather Jackson, a charismatic and well-respected deafened person who died in 2007. You can read Heather’s biography here.
Congratulations to all!