Bob Abbott, Christchurch, QSM
For services to the hearing impaired. Mr Abbott has been an active member of The Hearing Association for more than 20 years. He instigated and participated in projects including installing customer hearing stands in businesses, creating hearing loops for smaller meeting rooms, and promoting Hearing Awareness Day. He constantly promotes issues surrounding hearing loss to help remove the stigma that can surround hearing loss. His own hearing loss is severe to profound and having recently had a cochlear implant operation, he has become a strong advocate for the advantages it can bring to the hearing impaired.