Extract from New Horizons, November 2022.
Ivan Molloy was presented with the David Blyth Award in 2005 for his many contributions to the lives of people who are blind or vision impaired in Australia and internationally. With his wife, Lorraine, Ivan led the Overseas Cultural branch of BCA until its closure in 2016.
In 1981, Ivan led a group of 16 to Sri Lanka where he had already developed close connections with the local blind community. This tour, which incorporated blind cricket, swish (blind table tennis) and many opportunities to experience the local culture, formed the basis for Ivan’s long running commitment to supporting blind people in Sri Lanka and in other Asian countries. Ivan worked tirelessly to provide financial support and material aid to the Ratmalana School for the Blind and to similar organisations. Much of this work was undertaken through BCA’s Overseas Cultural branch. The branch’s major project over many years was to cut to size and package paper that was provided by the then photo processing company, Kodak, for use as braille paper. To accommodate this work, Ivan gave over the workshop at his Mount Martha home and had his driveway reinforced to accommodate the heavy vehicles that delivered the paper as weighty rolls.