The theme of the People of the Year Awards 2010 was “Ahead of the Curve”. Everyone represented at this year’s awards was pointing the way to a future of disability equality, inclusion and empowerment through innovation, commitment and leadership. The awards were presented by the wonderful Cerri Burnell and we had an excellent array of presenters from the worlds of television, politics, disability campaigning, business and sport – and that was just Dame Tanni Grey -Thompson.
Wycliffe Noble won the Person of the Year Award, for his committed campaigning for improved access to transport and buildings for disabled people. Changing British standards and exerting influence both nationally and internationally over the last 5 decades.
An emotional Lizzie Emeh won the new Arts Award for her groundbreaking new album and dedicated her award to all people with disabilities to show that anything is possible. Lizzie has achieved mainstream success and along the way changed views on learning disability.
Stephen Brookes MBE, Anne Novis and Katharine Quarmby of the Disability Hate Crime Network won the new CPS Stop Hate Award. In a year when a new spotlight has been shone on the horrendous cases of bullying and hate crime, the Disability Hate Crime Network Facebook group has enabled members to share experiences and advice on ways to tackle abuses. In an unusual step the judges highly commended all of those groups led by disabled people who are working to combat bullying, harassment and hate crime against disabled people.
Radar CEO Liz Sayce “At present people living with disability or health conditions experience needless inequality and injustice – but these winners are changing that. I would like to express our heartfelt thanks to everyone – winners, everyone on the shortlists, sponsors, presenters and guests – who are transforming opportunities in practical and profound ways and who have helped make the Radar People of the Year Awards 2010 such a spectacular success.”
Here is a list of the winners from the night, along with those individuals and organisations that were highly commended for their work.
Radar Shaw Trust ‘Accessibility Provider of the Year Award’
Winner: Arsenal FC’s Disability Liaison Team Arsenal FC’s Disability Liaison Team has consistently gone above and beyond the call of duty to promote disability access, and in doing so provides other clubs with an example to follow. They have seamlessly integrated accessibility provision and disability awareness into everything they do.
Radar ‘Arts Award’
Winner: Lizzie Emeh Lizzie Emeh made history by being the first learning disabled solo artist to write, record and release her own album – Loud and Proud – and taking it to a mainstream market. In breaking new ground and providing a shining role model, she encapsulates what the People of the Year Awards are all about.
Highly Commended: Bobbie Baker Bobby Baker’s ‘Diary Drawings. Mental illness and me’ uniquely portrays the experience of mental illness as it happens, day by day – not afterwards – and provides inspiration and insight for those who have experienced a mental health condition.
Radar ‘Care and Support Award’
Winner: Ealing Centre for Independent Living Ealing Centre for Independent Living shows just what can be achieved with a commitment to inclusion and outreach. Bringing disabled people and carers together, they have enabled disabled people to access almost half a million pounds in support. This year they won the contract to run the local Carers’ Centre and through their cutting edge work they are showing the benefits of giving disabled people real control.
Radar Microlink PC ‘Careers and Leadership Award’
Winner: The Chartered Institute of Housing The Chartered Institute of Housing’s ‘Positive Action for Disability Scheme’ demonstrates this organisation’s outstanding commitment to furthering the careers and aspirations of disabled employees in a sector where this issue has not yet been significantly broached.
Radar ‘Factual Media Award’
Winner: Channel 4′s ‘How to Look Good Naked with a Difference’ ‘How to Look Good Naked with a Difference’, a 3 part series starring Gok Wan, innovatively and effectively tackled issues around fashion and beauty for disabled women, an area from which disabled people are often excluded. As a result of the show, disabled model Shannon Murray was picked by Debenhams to model for the re-launched Principles range.
Highly Commended: BBC London’s ‘Can Gerry Robinson Fix Dementia Care Homes’ A documentary infused with human rights values which showed for the first time how shockingly inadequate the general standard of dementia care is in private care homes. This programme gave ordinary people with dementia a real voice for the first time, bringing into the spotlight a group of disabled people apt to be ignored by society.
Radar ‘Fictional Media Award’
Winner: Channel 4′s ‘Cast Offs’ ‘Cast Offs’ has been described as a breakthrough in TV’s depiction of disabled people. This ambitious and darkly comic drama series featured six disabled characters marooned on a remote British island for a fictional reality TV show. Critically acclaimed and hugely popular, this programme broke new ground and changed perceptions of disability.
Radar Intercontinental Hotels Group ‘Person of the Year Award’
Winner: Wycliffe Noble For nearly 40 years Wycliffe Noble has promoted access for disabled people. In the early 1960s he was one of the first architects to take on disability access issues, and has had an immeasurable influence on the accessibility of modern Britain. He has chaired the British Standards Institution committees relating to access for disabled people and has been a leading player in the International Technical Aids and Access Commission established by Rehabilitation International. This nomination recognises the immense work and dedication given to the cause of equal access of this unsung hero throughout the last five decades.
Radar Crown Prosecution Services ‘Stop Hate Award’
Winner: Stephen Brookes MBE, Anne Novis and Katharine Quarmby of the Disability Hate Crime Network The Disability Hate Crime Network is a Facebook site that enables disabled people to share experiences of hate crime, offers advice and updates members on reports of hate crimes and measures to tackle them. This group has achieved outstanding results in highlighting the menace of hate crime, and in persuading police and politicians that they must take disability hate crime seriously.
Highly Commended: Better Days, Blackpool Service User Forum, Disability Equality (NW), Keeping Safe Project (Derbyshire), Listening Partnership Group, Our Vision Our Future, Sarah Leach and Michael Mitchell of the ARC Safety Net Project, Calderdale The Judges have taken the very unusual step of highly commending seven local initiatives led by groups of disabled people who entered the People of the Year Awards separately. This group commendation is in recognition of the pioneering and innovative work being done by all these groups in their different areas to combat the scourge of disability-related hate crime.
Radar Lloyds Banking Group ‘Sports Award’
Winner: Lucy Hodges Lucy has Photophobia Nystagmus and very limited vision. She won the partially sighted category of the UK Blind Sailing Race and in the World Blind Match Racing competition, helmed her crew to nine straight victories. She is Commodore of Blind Sailing, a UK charity that creates sailing opportunities for blind and visually impaired people and has built a network of sighted helpers to encourage novices and train them to sail. She is an outstanding pioneer and role model.
Radar One Voice Coalition ‘Technology Provider of the Year Award’
Winner: Nuance Communications Nuance’s Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11, the newest release of the world’s best-selling desktop speech recognition software, has been developed to improve the way people interact with their computers. Nuance’s Dragon Mobile Apps for Apple platforms enable millions of people to communicate quickly and easily on mobile devices, simply by speaking. Together these open new opportunities for disabled people in their professional and personal lives.
Radar Nuance ‘Young Person of the Year Award’
Winner: Nadeem Badshah As a reporter for Eastern Eye, a leading British Asian Weekly Newspaper, Nadeem has developed an exceptional reputation for pioneering campaigning journalism. His articles have time and again shed light on rarely-discussed and controversial issues affecting disabled people in Asian communities. His work on issues such as abuse and forced marriage is bringing about real change for the better for disabled people in Asian Communities.
Highly Commended: Jasmine-Lee Wakefield-Burkitt Star of the documentary ‘Small Teen Big World’, which became the most popular documentary ever shown on BBC 3, Jasmine has an undiagnosed form of dwarfism. Jasmine’s inspirational film showed the barriers which disabled teenagers everywhere can face and their determination to overcome them. Over 1,000 fans have so far joined this indefatigable teen’s online fan club.
