Professor Henryk Skarżyński, creator of the World Hearing Center and Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing received a Special Icebreaker Award during the Gala Ceremony of the ninth edition of the „Icebreaker 2014” contest. The ceremony took place on 8^th October 2014 at the Royal Castle in Warsaw.

The laureates of the Icebreaker award are companies, institutions and organizations who break stereotypes and prejudices, employing people with disabilities and giving them the opportunity for personal development and social inclusion.

‘The special place created by the special person’ – this description of the World Hearing Center has been heard many times during the Gala. “Everyone who visits the World Hearing Center, even for a short time, is impressed with the magnitude of this undertaking and the highest international standard of procedures performed there. Prof. H. Skarżyński achievements are the demonstration of the principle that with small steps we can achieve great success. In Kajetany they not only cure and restore hearing to people in all ages, from newborns to octogenarians, but also give employment to people with disabilities.”

Prof. H. Skarżyński, thanking for the ‘Special Icebreaker’ statuette, gave weight to the role of employers in professional activation of disabled people. He noted that it is not easy to be an icebreaker. “One can feel an Icebreaker not only doing something for the first time in Poland or the world, but also sustaining, defending and convincing people to support your dreams.”

The “Icebreaker” contest has been created by the Polish Organization of Employers of People with Disabilities and the Foundation for Professional Activation of Disabled People „FAZON” and is being organized since 2006. Its participants are companies, institutions and organizations involved in promoting social inclusion and employment of disabled people. The honorary patronage over this year’s edition of the contest held Ms Anna Komorowska, First Lady of Poland.