Judy’s legacy to be honoured
Award pays tribute to Paul Antonio’s wife after death
AN AWARD has been established to honour the legacy of Judy Antonio who lost her battle with motor neurone disease one year ago.
Mrs Antonio died on July 31 last year after a seven-year battle with the disease.
She was the wife of Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio and the patron of the Toowoomba Business DisABILITY Awards.
The inaugural Judy Antonio Memorial Award will be presented at the DisABILITY Awards Gala Dinner on Tuesday, September 19 at the Highfields Cultural Centre.
Awards committee member Paul Wilson said it would be presented to a business, community group or individual that epitomised the values of social inclusion as lived by Mrs Antonio.
“Judy was a wonderful supporter of our event and our ethos. She understood the importance of social and workplace inclusion and what it meant for people with a disability,” he said.
“She was a passionate advocate and spoke often and freely about her illness in the hope more people could learn about motor neurone disease.
“We were deeply saddened by her death and we wanted to honour her memory with this special award.”
This year’s awards will also see the introduction of the Elissa Flanagan Aim High Scholarship, named in honour of the young woman who was involved in a fatal road accident on her way home from the awards event in 2015.
“We’ve lost two special people from our community and this is our small way of paying tribute to their lives,” Mr Wilson said.
The awards committee announced the guest speaker as Australian comedian Tim Ferguson and award-winning journalist Kay McGrath as Master of Ceremonies.
The awards are open to individuals, businesses and community groups across five categories as well as the scholarship.
Nominations close on Friday, September 1.
To nominate or purchase gala dinner tickets visit tbda.net.au.