A deafblind man from Erdington, Birmingham, has been shortlisted for a national charity award, in recognition of the exceptional courage he has shown by hiking 52-miles across the historic national trail, the RidgeWay.
44-year-old John Churcher who has Usher Syndrome, three per cent vision and a hearing impairment, is shortlisted for ‘Person of the Year’ at the Sense Awards 2018. An accomplished climber, John took on the charity’s Ridgewalk event, showing bravery in the face of a tough challenge.
The annual Sense Awards, now in their 15th year will take place on Thursday 20th September at TouchBase Pears in Birmingham, and will be hosted by BBC presenter Nikki Fox. The awards recognise the outstanding achievements of people with complex disabilities, as well as the staff, carers, family members, volunteers and fundraisers that support them.
John Churcher said: “As a trustee for Deafblind UK, it was great to be able to support another charity like Sense that also works to improve the lives of deafblind people, and have the chance to do another challenge at the same time.”
Sense Chief Executive, Richard Kramer, said: “John has been a member of Sense for the past 30 years and has achieved so much success. His list of accolades keeps on growing and we are so thankful he participated in the charity’s Ridgewalk event this year to help make a difference to the lives of the people we support. The Sense Awards exist to celebrate the achievements of people like John and I wish him all the best of luck for this year’s award ceremony.”
