The BDA Awards and Honours for 2023/24 were presented to the most deserving members of the dietetic workforce at Birmingham’s prestigious Council House this week. The event brought together the great and the good and was the perfect setting for an afternoon of celebrating and networking.
Thank you to our sponsors Yakult and Danone and also to Wiltshire Farm Foods for supplying the desserts.
Chair of the BDA, Caroline Bovey, said “Each year, the BDA recognises excellence in the science and practice of dietetics, the contributions that individuals make in promoting the BDA and the profession and for ‘going the extra mile’. Our members are the association. This is our chance to say thank you to all the members who do so much.”
View the photos from the Awards here:
The Mary Turner Award
Winner - Rachael Hawthorne
Rachael is a TUNEC member and Chair of the Northern Ireland employment relations committee. This award was presented in recognition of the work that she did in leading the industrial action in January.
Media Spokesperson of the Year
Winner - Nichola Ludlam-Raine
Nichola’s experience on live TV is vast and means we feel confident that she is a trusted pair of hands to carry important dietetic messages from the BDA. It also helps that she’s a lovely person and that conveys in her work with the media and why journalists keep asking her back. We’re grateful for her ongoing support and are excited to see where her media work goes.
Shortlisted
Aisling Pigott and Clare Thornton-Wood
Digital Innovation Award
Winner - Simple App: Nutrition Scores and Food Feedback
Shortlisted
MUST on Vitals Reporting & Dashboard
Outstanding Achiever Award - Sponsored by Yakult
Winner - Moira Taylor
Shortlisted
Nicky Wyer
Rising Star Award - Sponsored by Danone
Winner - Critical Care Specialist Group Social Media Team: Lisa Corrigan and Chloé McMurray
Social Media Influencer of the Year
Winner - @CUH_dietitians
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Cinematographer: Umme Ali
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Video editing for social media (Instagram reel) and starring role: Sophie Barnett
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Starring role: Nelly Brooks
Student Champion
Winner - Shona Wells, Newcastle University (The third time in a row that a student from Newcastle has won!)
Shortlisted
Mya Bromwich – Nottingham University
Kyle Kennedy – Glasgow Caledonian University
Eric Cui Wu – King’s College, London
Volunteer of the Year **NEW AWARD FOR 2024**
Joint Winners - Eleanor Coles and Krishna Kholia Parmar
Shortlisted
Natasha Guildford
Branch of the Year
Winner - West Scotland
The West Scotland Branch have showcased their ongoing dedication, teamwork, and achievements in the area of member engagement. Working to support members in West Scotland they have delivered events, led social media campaigns and used their platform to educate, influence and promote the dietetic profession.
The branch has spent considerable time developing their stakeholder relationships, working across the BDA with specialist groups, staff and the Scotland Country Board to deliver member engagement activities. The committee have been particularly successful in engaging with students, hosting a popular event showcasing dietetics to students across Scotland.
The committee have seen a considerable increase in their social media engagement resulting in more followers and a broader reach to promote dietetics in Scotland.
Shortlisted
South East
South West England
Sub-Group of the Year
Winner - Neonatal Sub-Group
The Neonatal Sub-Group have been enthusiastic in their work to influence and develop support for dietitians working within neonatal units. They have worked hard to build their stakeholder relationships, allowing them to lead and contribute to national initiatives, and to represent the dietetic profession in a number of forums.
The sub-group has placed a strong focus on supporting members education, practice and research by producing national guidance, contributing to national groups, consultations and policy. They have focused on building a strong community of supportive dietitians using key communication channels to create a healthy dialogue and peer support system.
As a committee they have demonstrated their member first approach, seeking the opinions of their members and delivering key projects, communications and events in response.
Shortlisted
Prehabilitation
Specialist Group of the Year
Winner - Paediatric Specialist Group
The Paediatric Specialist Group has demonstrated excellent work in supporting and developing education, resources and tools for their members. The group has continually placed the members at the heart of all that they do, listening and responding to their needs and looking to the future in order to develop aspiring paediatric dietitians. Their work this year has been impactful, considered and extensive with key projects such as the Childhood Obesity Toolkit and the NHS e-learning programme coming to fruition.
The group has worked hard to cultivate meaningful engagement with strategic partners, benefiting both members and the advancement of the profession. They have worked to align the group's work plan with the broader BDA strategy and have incorporated relevant campaigns and social media activities into their activity to raise awareness and promote the role of the paediatric dietitian.
The committee is vibrant, innovative, and committed to supporting their community, advocating to improve practice and support the work of the BDA.
Shortlisted
Food Services
HIV Care
GET
The General and Education Trust (GET) has a long history of supporting the science and practice of dietetics through the promotion of national awards which recognise the excellent work carried out by many BDA members, from publishing original research work, to innovation in practice and educational resources.
Dame Barbara Clayton Award
Advancing Dietetic Practice and Policy Development in Sickle Cell Nutrition
Dr Claudine Matthews
Elizabeth Washington Award
E-learning for health training programme – Complications from excess weight (CEW) in children and young people
Dr Laura Stewart, Kiranjit Atwal, Rachael Brandreth, Lisa Cooke, Shelley Easter and Julie Lanigan
Rose Simmonds Award
A dietitian led coeliac service helps to identify and reduce involuntary gluten ingestion with subsequent reduction in the frequency of repeat endoscopies
Cristian Costas Batlle
BDA Honours
The BDA Honours recognise and reward BDA members who go above and beyond, those who inspire others and are making a real difference.
Honorary Associate
Ibex
Professional Achievement
Fellowship
