UKABIF AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED AT ANNUAL SUMMIT

The 2022 UKABIF awards, celebrating people’s work and creativity in the field of acquired brain injury, attracted a fantastic number of entries. The awards, sponsored by Elysium Neurological, cover innovation, inspiration, film making, lifelong achievement and poster design. The winners were announced at the UKABIF Time For Change Summit in Manchester on Monday, 7 November.

The Mike Barnes Award for Innovation recognises and celebrates innovative projects and concepts in the management of acquired brain injury. This year’s winner is Krysalis Consultancy for their digital health platform and vocational rehabilitation service solution – Neuro Logical. Neuro Logical is a neuro-OT digital health platform that delivers a vocational rehabilitation solution to managing acquired brain injuries in the workplace. Krysalis was founded by clinical director Jo Throp in 2006. She leads a nationwide team of specialist neurological occupational therapists who have been providing community based neuro rehabilitation services for more than 16 years.

Neuro Logical uses Krysalis’ specialist expertise to identify and remove the barriers of complex neurological conditions that would otherwise limit potential and opportunity. It helps individuals and the workplace recognise what is possible.

It works by recording patient experiences and perceptions of self, creating a ‘real-world’ profile of needs, fostering engagement and motivation via an app. This then allows the occupational therapist to create the best fit environment, roles and occupations for a patient.

The Stephen McAleese Award for Inspiration celebrates an individual who has gone above and beyond in the field of acquired brain injury and this year’s winner truly is Premier League standard inspiring.

In 2012, 15-year-old football mad Charlie Fogarty suffered a severe brain injury after being hit by a car.  He spent 11 days in intensive care at Birmingham Children’s Hospital before being moved to a neurosurgical ward and being placed in an induced coma. Doctors said it was unlikely he would be able to walk or talk again and would probably never return to education.

Yet Charlie proved them all wrong. After leaving hospital four months after his accident, Charlie was transferred to The Children’s Trust – the UK’s leading charity for children with a brain injury and nominator for this Award. Charlie was a resident at the Charity’s specialist rehabilitation centre in Surrey and after two months he spoke again for the first time and just six months after the accident he took his first steps. Ten months later Charlie was well enough to return home.

Before the accident Charlie had just finished a four-year contract at Birmingham City’s Academy and was trialling for Milton Keynes Dons. Playing football again was Charlie’s biggest motivation and just 16 months after the accident he had put on his football boots and stepped onto the pitch for the West Midlands Centre of Excellence team.

The Film Award is a wonderful opportunity to tell stories, share experiences and help people better understand living with an acquired brain injury. This year’s winner is a film entitled The Untold Story of Brain Injury: Voices from Survivors. The film was created by Jess Mountfield whose best friend has a brain injury. It was produced by Flo Layer, Clare Roberts and Jenny Clarke of SameYou.

They wanted to invite everyone to hear and understand the lived experiences of brain injury from the survivors themselves in order to find out what has helped them and what is needed to help more people.

A special Lifelong Achievement Award was presented this year to recognise the work of a dedicated advocate for people with an acquired brain injury.

David Ramsbotham has been a vocal and effective Parliamentarian for the rights of vulnerable people, particularly when they have had an Acquired Brain injury. He saw the need to care for and support people with an ABI from his time as a General in the UK Army, and then, as Chief Inspector of Prisons.

For ten years he then chaired the Criminal Justice and Acquired Brain Injury Group, which resulted in prison system reforms regrading ABI that is world leading - with screening and support becoming accepted as required from a rehabilitation and rights perspective.

The Poster Award looks for designs which are capable of communicating a project to a non-specialist audience. This year this category attracted an unprecedented number of entries for people to vote on. The winner was Kerry Rose Watts for her poster depicting 'A retrospective analysis of referrals for neuropsychology input in a hyper-acute neurorehabilitation service'.

Chloe Hayward, Executive Director of UKABIF, said: “As always, it was a highlight of our Summit to present our annual awards and we are grateful to Elysium for their sponsorship. They are one of the ways we can recognise and celebrate the wonderful work of unsung heroes across the country. It is so important that we highlight the innovation, creativity and determination of people of all ages, across all sectors striving to improve the lives of people with an acquired brain injury.

"Congratulations to all the winners!"