This award celebrates annually someone who has been an outstanding ambassador or inspiration for people with aphasia, or who has carried out exceptional research to benefit people with aphasia. Nominations are open to people with aphasia, family/whānau and friends, Speech Language Therapists and other people with an interest in aphasia. The award consists of $1000 and the recipient and runners-up are featured in our news and on our social media. Nominations open in March, and close at the beginning of Aphasia Awareness Month in June.
Please get in touch with us if you would like to put someone’s name forward for this award.
We present the Emma Castle Award for Excellence in Aphasia at the end of Aphasia Awareness Month in June.
The winners of the Emma Castle Award in 2024 are Stephen Gibbs and Tony Petrasich
This year, the decision was just as difficult as last year! It is fantastic that there are people across Aotearoa doing such great work supporting people with aphasia and raising awareness. We thank all the nominees for their outstanding work in the field.
After lots of discussion, there was unanimous agreement by the Trustees that there were two outstanding people who were equally deserving of the Award. The decision was therefore made to recognise both this year.
The nominees in 2024 were:
- April Yorke
- Junelle Robinson
- Robyn Gibson
- Maxine Bevin
- Stephen Gibbs
- Tony Petrasich
We would like to recognise the outstanding contribution of Maxine Bevin, Hawkes Bay CAA. Maxine did not want her nomination progressed but we thank her for her many years of dedication to the support of people affected by aphasia and her expertise and generosity in raising awareness and supporting other health professionals in their learning around aphasia.