Alan Martin – winner of the Gerry Clarke Award for Best Reflective Practice in Social Care 2018

Viv MenziesCollege News, News, Social Care Professional Development, Community

Alan Martin, Winner of the Gerry Clarke Award 2018 with Dr Karen Finnerty, College Director, OTC.

The OTC is delighted to announce that Alan Martin, Camphill Communities has been awarded the Gerry Clarke Award for Best Reflective Practice in Social Care, 2018 at our Annual Conferring Ceremony on Saturday, 17th November, 2018 in the RDS.

Gerry Clarke tutored on the social care programme for the Open Training College for 7 years, before the OTC lost Gerry in June 2013. Gerry came to the College after many years working in Stewarts Hospital where he worked in the area of supporting people labelled as challenging. Gerry also worked as a lecturer for ITB for a few years. On the OTC social care programme he facilitated the workshops on the topic of challenging behaviour plus also presented on Life Transitions, Communications and Person Centred Planning.

Gerry was a popular tutor, being the main tutor for second year students for many years. He was also a beloved member of the OTC team, with his knowledge, experience, wisdom and wit; many people went to Gerry to seek advice and he was always available to hear about someone else’s life issues. Gerry was also very open about his health issue. His mantra to many was deal with the things you can control, there is no point being overwhelmed by those things you cannot.

The team felt Gerry’s loss. To mark his contribution not only to the College but to the social care sector, the College team decided to create an annual award. The Gerry Clarke Award was designed for the student who displayed the best reflective practice through their academic work showing their ability to turn theory into practice and develop innovative practices in their work setting. Every year Gerry’s wife, Evelyn, presents the award to the student during the conferring ceremony. The award is now a popular and poignant part of the day.

Previous recipients of the Award are:

  • Hannah Devine, Brothers of Charity, Limerick (2013 Inaugural)
  • Aenid Doherty, Enable Ireland  (2014)
  • Lynn Leggett, Rehabcare (2015)
  • Aisling Matassa,  HSE North-East (2016)
  • Roisín O’Neill, St. Michael’s House (2017)

Learn more about the Social Care degree here