Claire was dedicated to supporting deaf children to have the same opportunities in life as their hearing peers. She was a committed ambassador of Auditory Verbal UK, as its Chair of Trustees from 2013 to 2020, and right up until she passed away in November 2022. As the mother of three children, two of whom are profoundly deaf and learnt to listen and talk at AVUK, Claire was, and remains, a source of inspiration to many families across the UK and internationally.

In memory of the dedication and compassionate support Claire gave - together with her family - we want to recognise the outstanding achievements of deaf children and young people and the adults who have gone above and beyond to support them.  

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Claire was passionately determined that being born deaf would not stop Alice and Ollie from achieving everything they were capable of. Learning to listen and speak with AVUK has undoubtedly meant that they have been able not only to have an equal start in life, but also to become inspirational children who demonstrate that everything is possible.

Claire was committed to ensuring all other families with deaf children should have the same opportunity.

Claire will never be forgotten, not least for the support she gave her own children, to so many families and how she fought to raise awareness and the need for greater investment in support for deaf children.

Now we want to recognise the outstanding achievement of other deaf children and individuals who support them just as Claire did. I hope you will support the awards by entering today so we can carry on recognising the amazing people, like Claire, who are helping transform lives of deaf babies and children.”

Chris Campbell, Claire’s husband

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Children and Young Person Outstanding Achievement Award

Claire helped so many people, many of whom she never met, but reached with her kindness and compassion. She shared her family’s experience of accessing support, including through the honest and open blog which Claire created with her husband Chris. Claire was dedicated to helping other families have the same opportunity to access specialist early interventions to support their children to have the same opportunities in life as their hearing peers.

This award will recognise a deaf child or young person with hearing loss who, like Claire, has gone above and beyond to demonstrate that deaf children can achieve their potential.

Nominations must include specific obstacles the child has overcome and what they have achieved. Entrants cannot nominate themselves, but can be made by anyone else, including:

• Parent, family member or carer
• Teacher
• Professional/healthcare worker or therapist who has worked with the child or young person
• Another child or young person or adult who has been inspired by them 

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Adult Outstanding Achievement Award

Claire had an unwavering dedication to raise expectations and outcomes for deaf children. She gave a huge amount of time and energy to support deaf children and their families. Claire led AVUK’s board during a time of significant growth for the charity, supporting it to develop the family bursary scheme to increase access to Auditory Verbal therapy, expand its professional training programme, open a new centre in Bermondsey, London, and launch its first five-year strategy.

This award will recognise an adult, such as a professional, teacher, parent or caregiver, who, like Claire, has gone above and beyond to support a deaf child or children to achieve their potential and/or challenge the perceptions of what deaf children can achieve.

Nominations must include details of the support that has been provided and examples of how the nominee has gone above and beyond to support deaf children and young people to achieve their potential. Entrants cannot nominate themselves, but can be made by anyone else, including:

• Deaf child or family they have worked with
• Fellow professional
• Fellow parent or caregiver

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How to enter

We want to get a real sense of the nominee and what they have done and achieved. We are keen to receive nominations in both categories which best showcase the achievements of the nominee and also allow for the person nominating to give their nomination in their own creative way. Therefore, we encourage entrants to be made in several ways, including:

• Thank you letter or letter of appreciation
• Story
• Poem
• Newspaper article – with a headline, story and photo as if it appears in a daily newspaper.
• Cartoon
• Drawing
• A straightforward email with information about your nominee

Nominations must be received by midday on September 24 2023, and should be emailed to [email protected] or posted to: FAO of Jane Warriner, Auditory Verbal UK, 82-86 Jamaica Road, Bermondsey, LONDON, SE16 4BA.

If you would like to speak to us before making a nomination, please email or call us on 01869 325000.

Claires’ children and husband Chris will judge the award entries alongside the team at AVUK. They will be looking for nominations which reflect Claire’s own dedication to ensuring all deaf children will have the same opportunities as their hearing peers.

The first Claire Campbell Awards for Outstanding Achievement will be presented to the winners in November 2023 at a special event in London and we hope to continue to recognise outstanding achievements by making the award annually.