Graduation: Honorary Awards in Maritime and Girlguiding

Maritime connections and raising the aspirations of women lie behind LJMU’s Winter 2019 Honorary Awards.

Outgoing First Sea Lord Sir Philip Jones and Girlguiding Merseyside are the respective recipients of an Honorary Fellowship and the Corporate Fellowship.

Girlguiding, the organisation that runs Rainbow, Brownies, Guides and Rangers, is honoured for its “tremendous role in shaping young the lives” of girls and young women in the City Region.

With more than 3,200 members aged 5-18, the organisation is increasingly seen as an empowering force for young girls and women.

Empowering

Julie Lloyd, Executive Director of Human Resources at John Moores University, said: “Girlguiding inspires equality, empowerment and confidence in today’s young women. We are thrilled to confirm the organisation as this year’s Liverpool John Moores Corporate Fellow.

“Their ethics tie in strongly with John Moores’ work with citizenship and volunteering* and also our Aurora and Athena Swan schemes to achieve equality of opportunity for women of all backgrounds.

“Girlguiding works extremely hard not just to provide skills and exciting experiences but to develop girls and young women into leaders and good citizens of the future.”

The award will be made to Merseyside’s Girlguiding Commissioner Cheryl Gregson during a graduation ceremony on Friday, November 22 at Liverpool Cathedral.

The ceremonies take place over three days this week, with the award to Sir Philip happening on Thursday, November 21 at the same fabulous venue.

Extraordinary service

Admiral Philip Jones served as first Sea Lord – Britain’s most senior sailor – for three years from April 2016 - June 2019.

The former naval navigator saw active service in the South Atlantic in the 1982 Falklands War and also sailed counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden.

The Birkenhead school graduate, from Bebington, has strong Mersey connections and was among the guests of honour at Cammell Laird for the flight deck launch of The Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s largest ever warship.

Professor Peter Byers, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education) at LJMU said: “The award is in recognition of an extraordinary career in the service of his country and during the ceremony where we are celebrating the achievements of our own graduates in maritime engineering.

“It is fitting that such a maritime-centric city as Liverpool should honour the First Sea Lord and particularly fitting that Sir Philip, who was born across the water in the Wirral, has been so influenced by the sea.”

Previous recipients of the LJMU Corporate Fellowship include Amnesty International, Macmillan Cancer Support and Tate Liverpool.