A 17-year-old deaf girl and hospital auditory implant service are the first recipients of a new “Outstanding Achievement” award launched to recognise the achievements of deaf children and young people and the adults who are supporting them in memory of a mother of two deaf children and dedicated champion.
Lauren Press, from North London, is the first winner of the Children and Young Person Claire Campbell Outstanding Achievement Award after being nominated by her school. The nomination said: “She has a great deal of drive and motivation and is dedicated to helping others understand deafness and to help improve outcomes for all deaf children”.
St George’s Hospital Auditory Cochlear Implant Service, South London, – specifically David Selvadurai, Dhaval Mehta and Tash Gerrow – have been awarded the Adult Outstanding Achievement Award and were nominated by the family of a deaf teenager who has been supported by the team for more than a decade. The nomination said: “We applaud each and every one of them for going above and beyond in positively impacting, changing and continuing to support so many children and young people throughout their hearing journeys. Our son is testament to that, and they have had an enormous impact on him throughout his entire hearing journey.”
Claire Campbell was a mother of three children, of which the youngest two are profoundly deaf. She was a dedicated and passionate champion for deaf children to have the same opportunities in life as their hearing peers.
Claire was also a committed volunteer and ambassador of Auditory Verbal UK (AVUK) until her death in November 2022. Now the charity, which supported Claire’s deaf children to learn to listen and speak with their specialist programme of Auditory Verbal therapy, is proud to recognise the achievement of people and organisations across the UK who are going above and beyond to support deaf children and challenge the perception of what they can achieve.
Lauren, from Barnet, was diagnosed as profoundly deaf soon after she was born, she had her first cochlear implant aged two and her second at six. She joined AVUK’s specialist family programme aged six months to learn to listen and speak. At three she graduated with spoken language skills at a level expected for a hearing child of her age.
Lauren is now thriving with the same opportunities in life as her hearing peers, studying A Levels in English Language, Psychology and Philosophy at Haberdashers Girls’ School. The award nomination from her school continued: “She has a great passion for educating others about deafness and is also mentor for a deaf boy in the junior school who she is supporting in his transition into secondary school.”
On receiving her award Lauren said: “I feel privileged and honoured to have won this award, especially considering the amazing work others in this category have done to raise awareness for deaf children and young adults. My motivation to speak publicly comes from my belief in the importance of early educational intervention for deaf children so that they can fulfil their full potential at school and in life”
Proving what deaf children can achieve alongside backing calls for more support for deaf children to achieve their potential, Lauren has spoken at both the House of Commons in Westminster and London City Hall highlighting the importance of early support for deaf children. She has also spoken about deafness at school assemblies and supported fundraising efforts.
In response to receiving the award the St George’s Hospital Auditory Implant Service said: “St George’s Auditory Implant team are honoured and touched to receive the first Claire Campbell Outstanding Achievement Award. Claire’s work in supporting and advocating on behalf of children with hearing loss was truly inspirational and she set a wonderful example for us all to follow.
“It is particularly special to have received a nomination from the family of one of our CI children, as our team is constantly striving to provide excellent care to an ever-growing St George’s implant family. Cochlear Implantation can truly impact the life of patients and their families, and this award is testament to that success.
“It is a privilege for our team to work in this area and we are hugely grateful for this award. We would like to congratulate all the nominees in this category, as we all work together to provide holistic and medical care for children and young people with hearing loss.
“Finally, we would like to thank AVUK for creating this special award in Claire’s memory.”
The St George’s Auditory Implant Service provides cochlear implants to deaf children and adults who can benefit from them. The team assess patients, conduct cochlear implant surgery, provide post operative support and long-term management and support.
Claire’s husband, Chris Campbell, presented the awards with his youngest two children Alice and Oliver at a celebration event in London on Wednesday (November 29th). He said: “I’m delighted that the St George’s team and Lauren have won these first awards in memory of Claire who I know would be equally thrilled. Claire was passionately determined that being born deaf would not stop our children, Alice and Ollie, from achieving everything they were capable of. Lauren demonstrates this everyday as well as giving back by supporting other deaf children to achieve their best and educate hearing people to have a greater understanding of deafness and what deaf young people can achieve with early and effective support.
“And the team at St George’s really do go above and beyond – treating every one of their patients individually, working in often difficult circumstances but always with a smile supporting the young deaf people and their families from the very beginning of their hearing journey and long term.
“All of those nominated are inspirational in the work they do, proving over and over again that being deaf does not have to be a barrier to any aspiration. Choosing the winners was a tough job but both Lauren and St George’s emulate everything we wanted to recognise in these awards.”
Auditory Verbal UK Chief Executive, Anita Grover, said: “Congratulations to the winners of the first Claire Campbell Outstanding Achievement Awards and to all the finalists for their achievements. Claire was unwavering in her support for deaf children and their families and it was wonderful to see the quality of nominations that we received for these first Awards in her memory.”
Charity AVUK works with the families of deaf children who want their child to learn to listen and talk. It’s specialist play based family programme helps deaf children process sound they receive from their hearing technology, such as hearing aids and cochlear implants, and supports them to develop language so they can learn to talk like their hearing friends.
