We’re absolutely delighted to let you know that the University has been awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for the work of the Tizard Centre. We’ve known this for a couple of weeks but were under strict orders not to tell anyone till after the official announcement! The announcement was made earlier today (see http://www.royalanniversarytrust.org.uk/ though website not updated yet!).
Details of arrangements for the award are still being clarified but we understand that there will be a dinner and awards ceremony in February though numbers able to attend these are likely to be limited. More immediately we thought we might replace the wine after this Wednesday’s seminar with some champagne and hope lots of you can make that!
This award is a big deal for us and for the University. It reflects all aspects of the work carried out by the Centre over the past 30 years. So gratitude is due to all of you as well as past staff and students. We would particularly like to thank Jill Bradshaw for the coordinating role she played in putting together our submission earlier this year.
We echo the VC’s quote in tomorrow’s press release: “I am absolutely delighted that the Tizard Centre should receive such an accolade. It is a tribute to the outstanding work of the staff and students at the Centre and to the difference they make to the lives of people with disabilities and their families.”