RADAR People of the Year Awards 2008

In December, national charity RADAR held what’s been described as its best yet People of the Year Awards. So who won what in this annual showcase for the world of disability?

This year’s RADAR People of the Year Awards were held at Battersea Evolution, with comedian Jeremy Hardy – star of BBC Radio 4’s I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue and The News Quiz – as master of ceremonies. The judges agreed that all of the nominees had done truly great work in their fields, helping improve the lives of disabled people, and that choosing the eventual winners was extremely difficult.

RADAR would like to offer their warmest congratulations to all the winners, highly commended entries, and all nominees.  Thanks are also due to all those who made the evening possible.

• The Person of the Year Award (sponsored by Royal Mail Group, presented by Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Rt. Hon. James Purnell MP) was won by Jonathan Naess for his work establishing Stand to Reason, an organisation helping break down discrimination on mental health grounds. Jonathan encouraged the first ever national leader (the former Norwegian Prime Minister) to speak openly about his experience of mental health problems, then created a form of viral campaign through which senior city bankers, lawyers and others “came out” about their experiences of mental ill-health.

• The Public Sector Award (sponsored by Office for Disability Issues, presented by Mayor of London Boris Johnson) was won by NHS Highland and Highland Council for their “Love Is…” programme that encouraged people with learning disabilities to secure their human rights to personal relationships. Training in the new rights-based policy for staff – in the local NHS, local authority and every organisation they work with – is now mandatory and is helping end a history of denial of sexual and human rights for people with learning disabilities.

The judges were so overwhelmed with the quality of nominations in this category that they highly commended two other organisations; South West London & St George’s NHS Mental Health Trust, for breaking down the “us and them” culture of health services (31% of recruits to the most senior management and professional jobs have personal experience of mental health problems), while Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service were praised for their commitment and innovative thinking on reducing fire risks for disabled people and those with long-term health conditions.

• The Business Award (presented by Trevor Philips, Chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission) was won by Lloyds TSB. According to the judges the company has gone way beyond welfare to work, having made reasonable adjustments for 3,500 staff as well as running personal development courses which have significantly increased disabled people’s participation in management grades. Lloyds TSB have also acted to ensure that call centres, websites, and all communications are accessible, with contractors expected to meet their accessibility standards.

• The Media Award for Factual Programming (sponsored by Sky, presented by news presenter Joyce Ohaja) was won by Love Productions for BBC Three commission, Britain’s Missing Top Model. The series, which challenged the usual aesthetics of disability within a popular format, was said to have illuminated and discussed prejudices and focused on real life issues, as well as on how disabled women feel.

The Judges also highly commended Blue Peter as a great example of the BBC’s commitment to inclusion of disability within children’s television, and described BBC Radio 4’s “Care in the UK” Season as “a unified and informative series which made an important topic accessible and influenced policy”.

• The Media Award for Fictional Programming (sponsored by Sky, presented by actor Matthew Goode), went to Tiger Aspect Productions for their BBC One commission, Coming Down the Mountain, for its “compelling portrayal of sibling relationships, brilliantly illuminated by the experience of disability”. The award was collected by its very happy co-star Tommy Jessop.

Completing a Tiger Aspect double bill, another BBC One commission – Recovery – was highly commended by the Judges for its portrayal (by David Tennant) of a man recovering from total memory loss following an accident. The judges described the film as “an awesome and moving piece of work with outstanding performances”.

• Disabled Entrepreneur Award (presented by Sadaqat Ali, from RADAR’s Leadership Programme) was given to Albert Thomson, who took his experiences of injury in Iraq, followed by amputation, and turned them into Action Amps – a successful business through which amputees help deliver realistic training simulations to the emergency services and the Armed Forces.

• Young Person’s Award (presented by Kelly Knox, Winner of Britain’s Missing Top Model; Jonathan Phang, Models’ Mentor on Britain’s Missing Top Model; and Marie O’Riordan, Editor of Marie Claire) was awarded to 27 year old Ben Fletcher, one of IBM’s youngest ever “master inventors”. Ben’s personal experience of Ushers syndrome informs both his ground-breaking work on IT accessibility and his belief that diversity and inclusion make for greater creativity and innovation at work.

The judges also highly commended Nathan Giles, who at the age of 12 researched children’s rights and used his findings to influence the UN and UK Government. This young man has already amassed a great deal of campaigning experience and the judges look forward to seeing much more of him in the future.

• The Lifetime Achievement Award (presented by journalist Edward Stourton) was awarded to the late Sue Maynard Campbell. Sue was nominated independently by several people for the way she quietly put her legal and organizational skills at the disposal of countless disability groups and individuals, supporting new organisations to grow and develop, as well as setting up successful companies and campaigns and influencing major businesses to develop their accessibility. Sue campaigned on issues from the right to life to equal access to health services – and, through persistence, succeeded. The award was collected by her sister, Alice Maynard.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Nominations will soon be sought for the 2009 People of the Year Awards, so get your choices ready! For more information, go to www.radar.org.uk.