Martin Littler, chairman of Inclusive Technology, said, "BECTa deserve this honour, particularly the Special Needs team. They have been pitching for so many years - and so much of their work is behind the scenes. This is a measure of the real regard in which they are held".

BECTa (then called NCET) backed Oldham's first Micros for Special Needs exhibition in 1988 with £8,000 sponsorship.

"The following year we got commercial sponsorship" said Martin "but it was NCET who made the thing happen at all and supported us through the following eight years".

BECTa attend the Special Needs IT exhibitions in Bolton and Islington, which Inclusive Consultancy & Training organize along with the Educational Publishers Association and NASEN. Their stands and seminars have been particularly busy over the last few years with key initiatives like the Inclusion Website, NOF training for Special Needs and now the Communication Aids Programme (CAP). Their CAP seminar, presented by the ACE centres, was the best attended at this January's Special Needs Fringe at the Olympia Hilton.