The VisAbility Biennial Awards acknowledges the achievements, success and personal goals reached by young people with a vision impairment.
The kind generosity of four individuals made these awards possible; Angus Stewart, Ida Lloyd and Fred and Lorna Craggs. Submissions come from family members, teachers, friends and colleagues. All receive certificates with some gifted cash prizes.
We thought we’d share some of the history behind these Awards which take place every other year.
Ida Lloyd
Ida Lloyd first became involved with Guide Dogs for the Blind WA in 1959 when she became president of the Ladies Auxillary, a charity organisation offering support to people less fortunate. The Secretary was Elsie Mead who had the very first Guide Dog, Beau, who was trained here in WA.
The Ladies Auxillary, with Ida at the helm, raised money for Guide Dog training. Ida became a Life Member of the Association for the Blind WA. She died at the age of 91 having spent 47 years as one of the main fundraisers for the Association.
Ida left a Gift in her Will for a Guide Dog, aptly called Lloyd. But as her daughter Libby Lloyd explains, she also left another more lasting gift.
She wanted to establish an inclusion fellowship for young people who had vision loss to promote social and independent living skills.
Libby Lloyd – Ida’s daughter
The Ida Lloyd Fellowship Awards inspires individuals with vision impairment to lead a full life. Speaking at the ceremony, Libby Lloyd says her mother would have been proud to learn how teenagers and children were overcoming obstacles to reach their own aspirations.
“Ida would have been absolutely thrilled and would congratulate your independence.”
Angus Stewart
Angus Stewart spent a lifetime teaching primary school children. During the 1950s, Angus taught blind children at Maylands Primary School. He introduced the Perkins Braille machine into the school, in order to empower students so they could seek meaningful work.
Angus spent ten years teaching vision impaired adults at VisAbility. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (link opens in new window) in 1983 for services to people with low vision.
The Angus Stewart Achievement Awards were established in 1979 to honour his work.
Fred and Lorna Craggs
The Fred and Lorna Craggs Award Fund pledges money to individuals with vision loss, living in regional areas of WA, so they can engage in the wider community and find success to reach academic goals.
Fred and Lorna had strong links to VisAbility throughout their lives.
Award winner success
The Ida Lloyd Fellowship Awards for Inclusion are presented to young people who are blind or vision impaired to develop their social skills and independent living.
- Richard Brider
- Declan Carnes
- Bradley Brider
- Karin
- Chloe Von Kaschke
The Angus Stewart Awards for Personal Achievement are presented to people living with vision impairment who overcome hardship to achieve academic or social goals.
Junior Category
- Weiland Mansell
- Zoe Coultard
- Michael Berg
- Emily Carnes
Post-Secondary Category
- Richard Brider
Personal Achievement – Open
- JoAnne McCormick
- Ryan Honschooten (Families)
- Ryan Honschooten (Individual)
The Fred and Lorna Craggs Award for Excellence are presented to youngsters living with vision loss, demonstrating excellence in a chosen field.
- Ally
- Tegan Reder
- Michael Berg
- Zoe Coultard
- Darren Coyle
- Tayla Arnold
- Declan Carnes
The Fred and Lorna Craggs Award for Regional assists young people living in regional areas of WA with vision impairment to engage in the wider community.
- Kaleb Glas
- Declan Carnes
The VisAbility Acknowledgement Awards promote inclusion for people with vision loss and include:
VisAbility Award – Family Leadership
Family Leadership Awards. Presented to a parent or family member who creates opportunities. This could be someone who achieves greatness through mentoring, leadership and empathy.
- Lynn Carnes
- Melinda Arnold
VisAbility Award – Community Awards
Community Awards. Presented to an organisation or environment that demonstrates people are given opportunity of equal access to others.
- Nigel Laxton – Artist
- Kamile Burinskaite – Gallery owner
Congratulations to all our award winners and keep following our social media accounts over the coming few months to find out more about our award winners.
Our next VisAbility Biennial Awards takes place in 2022. Find out more about the services we provide to young people and the support and therapy available.