It was with great delight that the Blatchford team received the top accolade at the 2009 BHTA Awards in London on December 3rd. Industry members from all areas of British Healthcare gathered together to recognise and celebrate the year’s achievements in product and service development.
The prestigious Independent Living Design Award was presented to Stephen Blatchford by Ade Adepitan MBE, gold medal winning Paralympian basketball player, for the Echelon Foot which judges selected from a group of 29 new products. Host, Angela Rippon, commented that the judges were particularly impressed by the interaction between the Blatchford team and amputees in developing and launching the concept.
Nigel Kingston, Saeed Zahedi, Christophe Cointet and Ben Blease were asked to present the Echelon Foot to the board of judges in November and the ensuing lively discussion convinced judges of the positive impact of Echelon on people’s lives.
Baroness Sue Campbell, chair of the Youth Sport Trust, spoke at the dinner of her hopes for the British Team in the next Paralympics and the evening was further enlivened with a surprise burst of song from members of Opera on the Run who were secretly posing as guests at tables around the auditorium.
