Last year, Dr Meredith Prain and her Centre of Excellence – Deafblind team were awarded the inaugural Eddie Keir Award for their Deafblind Webinar Series. We weren’t able to present Meredith with her award at the time due to COVID restrictions. Fortunately, Di Keir, Eddie Keir’s widow and their granddaughter Marnie, were able to pay a visit to Able Head Office yesterday to give Meredith her award.
The Eddie Keir award recognises Able staff or teams that develop an innovative idea that helps create better days, every day for our clients.
This award was established in honour of Eddie Keir, the co-founder of the Victorian Deaf Blind and Rubella Children’s Association, which evolved into Able Australia. He was a pioneer is his field, being an audiologist at The Royal Children’s Hospital and an advocate for people with multiple disabilities. Eddie’s dedication to and belief in people who are Deafblind inspired this award.
The Centre of Excellence Deafblind Webinars, developed for Able staff, began in August 2020 and continue to this day. A broad range of topics have been covered by the webinar series addressing a variety of issues related to deafblindness. These webinars provide connection between all Able staff, as well as creating professional development opportunities.
We look forward to seeing the range of projects that are nominated for this year’s Eddie Keir Award.
Below are some images from the day.
Image one (from left to right): Meredith Prain, Di Keir and Marnie
Image two (from left to right): Meredith Prain and Di Kei
Image three (from left to right): Able CEO, Lynette McKeown, Meredith Prain, Di Keir, Marnie and Chandi Piefke, Able National Director of Marketing and Engagement.