Ann Beckett Award

Who was Ann Beckett?

Ann Beckett was the first professionally qualified occupational therapist to work in Ireland. She set up Occupational Therapy departments first in Cherry Orchard Hospital and then in the Central Remedial Clinic where she worked for 16 years. Following that, she taught in the first Irish Occupational Therapy College, St. Joseph’s in Dun Laoghaire. She was a co-founder of the Association of Occupational Therapists of Ireland in 1965. Ann was an outstanding occupational therapist and was devoted to people, nature, music and her profession. Through her work she enriched many lives with her humanity, humour and practical approach to life.

What is the Ann Beckett Award?

The AOTI Ann Beckett Award Committee was set up by a group of Ann’s colleagues and the purpose of this committee is to:

• Celebrate the life and work of Ann
• Showcase occupational therapists’ practical occupation based interventions.

The Ann Beckett award is not an academic award but an acknowledgement of therapists who, through their work, demonstrate the core principles of Occupational Therapy in practice. The Committee look for practical projects which showcase active engagement in meaningful activity, and demonstrate creative ideas which involve clients and inspire colleagues.

Podcast link with Andrew Semple, Chairperson, Ann Beckett Committee :  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1856994/9226529.

How to enter:

Members of AOTI can apply or be nominated by their colleagues and clients. This Award is sponsored by O’Neill Healthcare.   

Please find award application form, entry rules and guidelines below:

• Ann Beckett Award Application form and guidelines

Completed entry forms should be returned

• Email:  [email protected]
• Post:  18 Herbert Street, Dublin 2

Closing date for receipt of applications - 31st March each year

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The Ann Beckett Award 2024 winner:

Leonie Boland & Sarah Quinn

are the winners of the 

Ann Beckett Award 2024

with their project

“Supported Volunteering. Working together.”

The Association of Occupational Therapists in Ireland (AOTI) is delighted to announce that the prestigious 2024 Ann Beckett Award has been awarded to Sarah Quinn and Leonie Boland for their outstanding project titled “Supporting Volunteering. Working Together.” This year’s award holds special significance as it marks the 20th anniversary of the Ann Beckett Award, established to honour excellence and innovation in the field of occupational therapy.

The winning project is a collaboration between the Discipline of Occupational Therapy at Trinity College Dublin and the occupational therapy service in HSE Dublin North City Mental Health Services. The project supports individuals with experience of homelessness and mental health difficulties to work as volunteers in local charity shops, by partnering with first year occupational therapy students with service users who are interested in voluntary work.

The nature of this project exemplifies the principles of collaboration, inclusion, and empowerment that are at the core of occupational therapy. Through their innovative approach, Sarah Quinn and Leonie Boland have created a model that enhances the experiences of volunteers by providing them with comprehensive support and resources. Their work not only fosters a strong sense of community but also ensures that volunteers are equipped to contribute meaningfully to the organizations they serve.

The visiting judges remarked how on paper the project demonstrates the outline, reasoning and planning of the volunteering but when visiting the OT School at Trinity College and then the Vision Ireland charity shop, the whole project came to life. The numerous underlying layers and nuances became more evident, as did the practical nature of the project.

The learning that both the students and service users gain from this project is invaluable. The building of trust, understanding, friendship, as well as socialising enabled the service users to become involved as volunteers. There is a lovely fun aspect to the project which again demonstrates the benefits of practical interventions.

Leonie and Sarah will be presenting a paper on their project at the AOTI Conference in September and later will be presented with the Award during the Conference Dinner.

The Ann Beckett Award Committee would like to thank all the other applicants for their excellent projects. These projects reflect the values of the Ann Beckett Award and follows the foundations that leaders like Ann Beckett have laid, to ensure innovative and life changing practice by Occupational Therapists. 

The Ann Beckett Award is kindly sponsored by O’Neill Healthcare. 

Previous winners of The Ann Beckett Award

• 2023: won by Emma Connolly with her project Flourish and Be - a sensory inclusive, bespoke Occupational Therapy led hairdressing salon
• 2022: won by Alice Moore & Helen Lynch with their project CRANN Inclusive Playground Project Design by inclusion, inclusion by design
• 2021:  won by Noreen Barry, Niamh McCormack, and Irma O’Keeffe for their project “Our Space, Our Skillset" 
• 2020:  won by Charlotte Sullivan, Amanda Carstairs and Hannah O'Leary for their excellent and innovative project The WOW Group ‘Working together, Organising together, Welcoming new adventures together’
• 2018: won by Helen Corrigan for her project Experiencing Success – A Gymnastics Group Partnership Programme for Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) 
• 2017: won by Della Murtagh for her project Occupational Therapy Special Hands Summer Camp.
• 2016: won by The Discover Recover Theatre Project in Wexford project group that was led by two occupational therapists Mairead Connaughton and Paula Lowney, and Niall O’Muiri a community mental health nurse.
• 2015: won by Trinity College Dublin Careers Pathways Initiative, a transition to employment project for students and graduates with mental health difficulties
• 2014: won by Jenny Smith and Neasa Caulfield for with their Sharing Skills project
• 2013: won by Fiona Mulholland & Brendan Rooney, Central Mental Hospital, Dublin for The Hen Project
• 2012: won by Rodrigo Frade, Sligo/Leitrim Mental Health Services, for the development of a Men's Shed for Sligo Town
• 2011: won by Margot Barry and Patrick Hynes, Sensational Kids, for their very practical, activity based Social Skills Group for children aged 7 years to 12 years who presented with various difficulties including Asperger’s Syndrome.
• 2010: won by Theresa Peacock for the Organic Garden & Relaxation Area for mental health service users she established
• 2009: won by Rosemary Dillon for the Motorbike Restoration Project where participants with acquired brain injury stripped, restored and reassembled a vintage motorbike
• 2008:won by Alice Rajaratnam for the Drawing Smiles Programme, a new approach to enhancing perceptual and learning skills, self-confidence, motivation & stress regulating ability for those with spina bifida and hydrocephalus.
• 2007: won by Mary McGrath for the Home-based Memory Rehabilitation Programme established in Belfast City Hospital to provide cognitive rehabilitation in the area of memory for persons with early stage dementia and support for their caregivers.
• 2006: won by Eithne Kenny for Seating for Doing to maximise independence in a long term care unit through innovative seating and mobility systems.
• 2005: won by Frances Corozza Paediatric Powered Mobility, a team approach to powered mobility in the Central Remedial Clinic.
• 2004: won by Linda Welford for The Otters Programme, a sensory motor and pre-handwriting scheme in a local school.