Minister of Health, Donville Inniss and Margaret Lady??Graham, wife of the Late Sir Cecil, walking past the??newly erected sign re-naming the Children’s Development Centre, The Albert Cecil Graham Development Centre.????

The name of the late Sir Albert Cecil Graham is now etched on the facility known to many as the Children’s Development Centre (CDC).

This follows a re-naming ceremony today at the institution at Jemmotts Lane, which honoured the man considered one of its founding members.

Minister of Health, Donville Inniss, in delivering the feature address, noted that it was fitting that, on its 21st anniversary, the Centre was being renamed in Sir Cecil’s honour, "an individual, who in many ways was a pioneer, in terms of care of the differently-abled in this society."

Acknowledging that Sir Cecil was "a true champion" for those with special needs, he recalled that the CDC was seen as his brainchild, since in the late 1970s, he led the first really major fund-raising campaign in Barbados, raising more than a million dollars to assist in its establishment.

Minister of Health, Donville Inniss and Margaret Lady??Graham, wife of the Late Sir Cecil, following the unveiling of the plaque??re-naming the Children’s Development Centre, The Albert Cecil Graham Development Centre.??

Minister Inniss said: "Having his name on this building should serve as a reminder of what one man with a passion and commitment can do to help others in a less fortunate situation.

??"Even at an early age, Dr. Graham showed such humility and unselfish love, in that he was willing to forsake his own dreams [as an architect] and to dedicate his life to looking after the needs of children requiring special love and attention."

Urging those gathered not to view the occasion as just "the unveiling of a plaque" or "the renaming of a facility", the Health Minister described it as "a fitting testimony of the life-long work of one man and the dream that he represented in taking care of those who are less fortunate in this society."

??Meanwhile, Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Centre, Felicia Inniss, in a tribute to the Late Sir Cecil, adjudged him "a national treasure who served his country well" and thanked his family and relatives for "releasing him to serve his nation and the people of Barbados."?? "We say thank you on behalf of the children, who, because of his intervention were provided with an equal opportunity to be all that they could be,." she said.

The Late Sir Cecil, who was knighted in 2008, had a career that spanned over four decades. In 1964, he was appointed as first Head of Paediatrics at the newly opened Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he served for 26 years.?? During that time, he not only cared for the sick, but passed on his knowledge to, and shared his experiences with medical students in his charge. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London) in 1974.

Later in his career, Sir Cecil served as a member of the Committee of Management of the Challenor School and the Board of the Barbados Association for Mentally Retarded Children. That involvement led him to medical interventions for children with disabilities and, as a result, he became the first Developmental Paediatrician on the island.

Other organisations which benefitted from his expertise were PAREDOS, the Thelma Vaughan Memorial Home and Rotary International.?? In 1970, he became a founding member of the Caribbean Association on Mental Retardation and other Developmental Disabilities and was elected Vice President of that organisation in 1988, serving in that capacity until 1994.

Sir Albert Cecil Graham, known earlier in his life as "Dr. Bertie Graham" died last year. jgill@barbados.gov.bb

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