Celebrations at Canterbury Cathedral

ABDO president, Daryl Newsome, with one of the new graduates

ABDO celebrated the graduation of dispensing opticians and contact lens opticians at Canterbury Cathedral on Wednesday 23 November.

The annual ABDO Graduation and Prize Giving Ceremony is a time-honoured tradition where graduands approach the dais one by one to be congratulated by the ABDO president.

The ceremonial handshake indicates the moment when graduands become graduates and become a full part of the profession of dispensing optics.

ABDO prresident, Daryl Newsome, and Nigel Haig-Brown, Master of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers, both addressed the graduands and their families and supporters who were in attendance.

Daryl said, “ It was a fantastic spectacle as it always is, in a wholly appropriate splendid venue. The graduates were rightly awestruck by the surroundings; they well deserved the celebration of the years of study they have put in. They brought with them some of the family and friends who have supported them to join them in celebrating their success. Teachers, lecturers, clinic managers and supervisors all joined the celebrations to make the event one the graduates will hopefully remember for the rest of their lives.

Francesca Caley receives the BCLA Prize

“We wish them well as this is the first huge step on their professional careers and task them with being the best dispensing opticians they can be and commit to improve their offering year on year as they maintain their journey into lifelong learning.”

A full report of the Graduation and Prize Giving Ceremony will appear in the January 2023 issue of Dispensing Optics.