Dr Agnes Lunny retires this year from Positive Futures, a charity she co-founded in Bangor in 1995. The organisation supports people with learning disabilities, acquired brain injury and autism through person-centred services.

Positive Futures began when Dr Lunny worked with Barnardos at Manse Road in Bangor, supporting children with disabilities from Muckamore Abbey in Antrim. She partnered with Alan Kendall of Barnardos, the late Boyd Turner and the Department of Health to establish the charity. Nine people from Barnardos became the first supported by Positive Futures.

Local Health Trusts backed the organisation. Paul Roberts, a social worker from England and Dr Lunny's future husband, assisted in promoting community housing for young adults with learning disabilities rather than institutional blocks.

The charity assesses individual needs and arranges accommodation to enable ordinary lives based on choice, control and belonging. Demand has grown consistently. Positive Futures recently announced plans to hire 20 new employees.

Dr Lunny received an OBE from Queen Elizabeth in 2005. She is registered blind and originally from Belleek in Fermanagh. Before Positive Futures, she worked as a social worker at Lisnevin in Millisle.