IAPA lifetime achievement award presented

The family of Roger Wickens, this year’s recipient of the IAPA International Lifetime Achievement Award, has been presented with a commemorative glass trophy, following the virtual awards ceremony earlier this year.

Anne Wickins receives IPAF award on behalf of husband Roger, from Peter Douglas, CEO of IPAF.

Roger Wickens of Loxam Powered Access Division’s Nationwide Platforms, who died in 2019, was anounced as the winner of the lifetime achievement trophy at the 2021 International Awards for Powered Access (IAPAs) ceremony, in recognition of a lifetime’s service to the industry. 

As a result of the awards being held virtually, due to Covid-19, Roger’s widow Anne, who accepted the award on behalf of her late husband, was unable to receive the award in person until this week, when Peter Douglas, CEO and managing director of IPAF, hosted a special lunch to hand over the award at Kilworth House in Leicestershire, one of Anne and Roger’s favourite places.

Douglas said, “We were so pleased to be able to announce Roger as the deserved recipient of this Lifetime Achievement IAPA, but it was sad both that Roger himself was not able to receive the award, and that owing to the situation with Covid-19 we weren’t able to invite Anne to join us in person to accept it on his behalf.

“We promised to get together at the first convenient opportunity to do just that, and so it was a pleasure to join Anne and her son Richard for lunch this week along with another former colleague of Roger’s at Nationwide Platforms, Amanda Beckett, who is now IPAF’s head of finance. It was lovely to see Anne and spend some time together with her to reminisce about Roger and his long years of service to powered access.

Peter Douglas announces Roger Wickens as the recipient of the lifetime achievement award at the IAPAs, held virtually in March this year.

“When Roger died in May 2019, powered access lost an industry veteran and one of life’s true gentlemen. I knew Roger for all of my 27 years with Nationwide and I would simply say he was a very lucky guy: He spent the whole time I knew him in the perfect role – a job he loved in an industry he loved. He had a huge impact not just on Nationwide, but the whole powered access industry. It is a real privilege to have been able to present Anne with this well-deserved award in his honour.”

Acknowledging the award back in March, Anne gave the following note of thanks: “It is a privilege and an honour to accept this award on Roger’s behalf – I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Roger spent his entire working life in the field of engineering, across 30 years or so in the powered access industry.

“To say he loved his work would be an understatement – it was his passion. I was always amazed at the huge amount of technical knowledge and know-how stored in his mind which he readily shared with others. Nothing was ever too much trouble for him.”