The award honours Geoffrey Deckers, the much-loved former Chair of Cruelty Free Europe, who passed away in June 2020. A dedicated animal protection campaigner who co-founded Dutch animal protection group, Diervriendelijk Nederland, Geoffrey led many successful campaigns in the Netherlands, across Europe and worldwide. 

The award is given annually to animal protection groups who are dedicated to ending animal suffering in laboratories.  

SAFRIreland will use the funds from this award to work towards ending Botulinum Toxin (Botox) testing in Ireland. Through the award, they will have the ability to explore many avenues over the next year and intend to make impactful change. 

Adrie van Steijn, member of the board of Cruelty Free Europe, says: “Geoffrey was always there for anyone who wanted to make a difference for animals. With this Award, we honour Geoffrey's spirit for outreach and collaboration, and on his behalf, we are helping to continue to help animals in laboratories. The board is pleased that SAFRIreland is the second recipient of the 2024 Geoffrey Deckers award and look forward to seeing the group use the award to help end animal testing in their country”. 

Suzanne Martin, SAFRIreland says: "SAFRIreland is honoured to receive this award. We are looking forward to focusing on making impactful changes on our path to replacing animals in botulinum tests here in Ireland."