Friday 27th November – for immediate release
DEAF CHILDREN’S CHARITY YOUNG AMBASSADOR SUCCESS IN NATIONAL
AWARDS
James Curtis, a profoundly deaf 15 year-old, was recognised for his outstanding
achievement at last night’s Children and Young People Now Awards at the Hurlingham
Club in London. He received the award for his contribution to the charity Auditory
VerbalUK and inspiring other deaf children to know that they can achieve anything.
James Curtis, a young ambassador at Auditory VerbalUK, won the Children’s
Achievement Award. This is the second nomination for James this year. He was Highly
Commended as the Young Person of the Year at The Shine a Light Awards 2015
sponsored by the educational publisher, Pearson. Pearson is actively engaged in the
speech and language communication needs sector and joined James Curtis, his family
and representatives from Auditory VerbalUK at last night’s awards ceremony.
Born with profound bilateral hearing loss, James, is an inspirational advocate for deaf
children and young people. After three years of a specialist listening and spoken
language programme at Auditory VerbalUK as a young child, James listens and talks on
a par with his hearing peers and excels at mainstream school. As a young ambassador
at Auditory VerbalUK, James passionately shares his personal experiences to increase
awareness of deafness, challenge stereotypes and raise the expectations of what deaf
children can achieve. From speaking at schools to presenting at large fundraising
events, James continues to demonstrate that there are no barriers to what deaf children
can accomplish.
James Curtis said: “I am so honoured to win the Children’s Achievement Award at the
Children and Young People Now Awards 2015. It would be easy for me to take for
granted that I am able to communicate with everyone I meet, as I was very young when I
had my cochlear implants and learnt to listen with the help of Auditory VerbalUK (AVUK).
But it was a great deal of commitment and work of family and teachers at AV UK that
helped me, and I was incredibly fortunate for that. I therefore want to thank them for all
their assistance.”
“Having the ability to fully communicate with the world around me has enabled me to
achieve so much and I am now in an amazing position to show others what is possible
and help them listen and speak just like me, and plan to carry on advocating the
importance of Auditory Verbal therapy for deaf children everywhere. Thank you.”
Bignell Park Barns, Chesterton, BICESTER, Oxon, OX26 1TD | 82 – 86 Jamaica Road, London, SE16 4BA
www.avuk.org | +44 (0)1869 321492 | info@avuk.org
Auditory VerbalUK is the operating name of the Auditory Verbal Centre
Registered Charity No: 1095133
Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered in England No: 4569764
Auditory VerbalUK teaches deaf children to listen and talk and develop the life-long
communication and social skills they need to participate fully in the hearing world. The
charity was highly commended for the Early Intervention Award at the Children and
Young People Awards and was also a finalist for the Learning Award and Children and
Young People’s Charity of the Year categories.
Speaking about the success, CEO of Auditory VerbalUK Anita Grover said “It is fantastic
to see our profoundly deaf young Ambassador, James Curtis, winning the Children’s
Achievement award. He is an inspirational young man. We are very proud of the
achievements of all the children that we have worked with at Auditory Verbal UK. Like
James, they are challenging perceptions of what deaf children can do and
demonstrating every day that they can do all the things that their hearing peers can. We
are also delighted to have received a highly commended award for our early intervention
programme and thrilled that our work at Auditory Verbal UK has been recognised by a
prestigious judging panel.”
Notes to editors
Interviews available with CEO on request – please contact Beth Cardwell on 020 7394
4353 or beth.cardwell@avuk.org. Photos (with captions) are enclosed.
About James Curtis, age 15, Auditory VerbalUK Young Ambassador www.avuk.org/stories/jamess-story/
About Auditory VerbalUK (AVUK) www.avuk.org
Auditory VerbalUK is an award-winning charity where highly specialist therapists teach
deaf children to listen and speak and help them to develop the lifelong communication
and social skills they need to participate fully in the hearing world. 80% of the babies
and preschool children that they work with achieve language on a par with hearing
children after three years. Most attend mainstream schools. AVUK’s programme of
auditory verbal therapy enables children who are deaf to learn to listen and speak
without the need for lip reading or sign language. It is providing the building blocks for
profoundly deaf children to get the very best start at school and to achieve their full
potential in the hearing world. Over the past 10 years, AVUK has supported over 1,000
families across the UK and increased the number of specialist therapists through its
accredited training programme. See videos of the children and families speaking about
their experience at www.avuk.org
AVUK has received recognition for its innovative and transformational work in recent
awards – shortlisted for the Guardian Charity of the Year 2015 and Highly Commended
as Charity of the Year with an income under £1million in the 2014 Charity Times Awards.
AVUK has two centres – in Chesterton, Bicester and in Bermondsey, London.
About Pearson
Pearson is the world’s leading learning company, with 40,000 employees in more than
70 countries working to help people of all ages to make measurable progress in their
lives through learning.
Bignell Park Barns, Chesterton, BICESTER, Oxon, OX26 1TD | 82 – 86 Jamaica Road, London, SE16 4BA
www.avuk.org | +44 (0)1869 321492 | info@avuk.org
Auditory VerbalUK is the operating name of the Auditory Verbal Centre
Registered Charity No: 1095133
Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered in England No: 4569764
For more information, visit www.pearsonclinical.co.uk
About the Children and Young People Now awards - www.cypnawards.com
The Children & Young People Now Awards have become the gold standard for
everyone working with children, young people and families. Now in their tenth year,
these awards provide a great source of pride and recognition for all those who strive
day in, day out, to improve the lives of others. They offer an opportunity to raise the
profile of projects and initiatives to funders and the general public. And they present a
tremendous showcase of learning and best practice from across the country that can
be an inspiration to all. The awards recognise initiatives from the public, private and
voluntary sector that work with children and young people from birth to adolescence as
well as their families. Initiatives might be aimed at all children and families within a
community or targeted at those who are the most vulnerable or disadvantaged.
About Anita Grover CEO Auditory Verbal UK
Anita Grover graduated from Kent University in 1991 with a degree in economics and
politics. She pursued a career in the public sector directing a series of highly successful
government marketing and communications campaigns and working on a range of social
policy issues at the Departments of Education, Social Security and Work and Pensions.
As a senior civil servant, Anita led communications on the UK Government's disability,
employers, pensions and poverty agendas, working with a succession of Cabinet
ministers, business leaders and third sector organisations. Before taking up the post of
CEO of Auditory VerbalUK in April 2013, she was Head of Communications Group for the
Department for Work and Pensions. Anita is a Fellow of the Institute of Direct and Digital
Marketing; a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; and a school governor in
Buckinghamshire. Anita is profoundly deaf after losing her hearing progressively from
childhood. She had successful cochlear implant surgery at Guys and St Thomas’
Hospital, in 2006. She recently became the first UK CEO to win the Macquarie Group
David Clarke Social Innovation Fellowship.
Bignell Park Barns, Chesterton, BICESTER, Oxon, OX26 1TD | 82 – 86 Jamaica Road, London, SE16 4BA
www.avuk.org | +44 (0)1869 321492 | info@avuk.org
Auditory VerbalUK is the operating name of the Auditory Verbal Centre
Registered Charity No: 1095133
Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered in England No: 4569764