On the 19th December 2007 at City University London, professionals, friends, and colleagues of Jane Marshall from across the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland along with Trustees of the Tavistock Trust for Aphasia gathered together for a lecture by Professor Marshall and to celebrate her being the 2nd recipient of the Robin Tavistock Award.

Professor Marshall gave a very stimulating lecture called the ‘Robin Tavistock Aphasia lecture’ on ‘Framing ideas in aphasia: the need for thinking therapy’. This lecture will be published in the International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders.

Following the lecture, the award was presented to Jane by Henrietta, Duchess of Bedford, the chairman of the Tavistock Trust for Aphasia. The award, named after Robin Tavistock, the 14th Duke of Bedford who founded the TTA, is presented annually to a person, or group, who it is felt, has made a significant contribution in the field of aphasia. This contribution could be made by an exceptional therapist, or someone who has over come their aphasia or to a group who have done ground breaking work or to an academic or team for their research or to a person or group who has made a financial commitment to aphasia - or to any combination of the above.

The Duchess said “Jane became a Professor at a young age which in itself is recognition of her exceptional abilities. “Super Efficiency” is what she is known for and as a result what she is able to accomplish leaves others in awe. Being calm and collected is another of her attributes combined with a wicked sense of humour, which we have all enjoyed today in her speech!

There is no doubt that Jane is an inspiration – how much she cares, how much compassion motivates her work and the depth and integrity in all that she does has made a significant difference in the world of aphasia.

I know how much Robin would have loved to be here today to present this award himself but we at the Trust are pleased and proud to give the Robin Tavistock Award to Professor Jane Marshall.”

The Robin Tavistock Award 2006

In 2006, on the third anniversary of the Robin Tavistock’s (the 14th Duke of Bedford) death, the Tavistock Trust for Aphasia has inaugurated an award to be presented annually to a person, or group, who it is felt has made a significant contribution in the field of aphasia. This contribution could be for helping people with aphasia, for personally overcoming aphasia, for crucial research work, or for making a financial commitment to aphasia; essentially this award will go to someone or a group who is inspirational and who has made a major difference.

This award has been called the Robin Tavistock Award after the founder of the Tavistock Trust for Aphasia. Robin suffered a massive brain haemorrhage which left him with aphasia, a severe and distressing speech loss which is experienced by nearly a third of people who survive a stroke. He was extremely fortunate to have had intense speech therapy with Eirian Jones, head of speech and language therapy at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge.

Eirian has had a long and distinguished career as a speech and language therapist. She has had a significant influence on the development of aphasia therapy in the United Kingdom. She has steadfastly raised the profile and impact of therapy for people with aphasia, both within the profession of speech and language therapists and with other health care professionals, contributing to both the clinical and research literature.

As lecturer at City University London and head of the Department of Speech and Language Therapy at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge she demonstrated first hand her genius for facilitating the return of language in people with even very severe aphasia. She developed a distinctive insightful, intuitive, intellectual and effective approach to therapy for language impairments. She has also made a significant contribution to her professional body by becoming chairman of the then College of Speech Therapists at a very young age.

It is therefore very apt that Eirian Jones became the first recipient of the Robin Tavistock Award. For had Eirian and Robin not met The Tavistock Trust for Aphasia would never have been created.