FORMER Lord Mayor of York, Ian Gillies, will join hundreds of graduates getting their degrees from York St John University today.

The former city Tory councillor will receive an honorary degree from the university's chancellor, Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York in the first of six ceremonies spread over three days at York Minster.

Also receiving honorary degrees this year are John Godber, one of the country’s most popular playwrights and directors, Huw Edwards, the chief anchor of BBC News at Ten and broadcast journalist Emma Crosby.

Others getting honorary gongs include Doug Gurr, the country manager of Amazon UK, Darren Henley, the chief executive of Arts Council England, award-winning author and journalist, Benjamin Myers, humanitarian worker Cokie van der Velde and Yorkshire-based entrepreneur, and philanthropist, Jonathan Straight, who is best-known for founding Straight plc, the UK’s biggest supplier of waste and recycling containers.

The degree ceremonies will also take place tomorrow and Thursday.

York St John takes nominations for honourary degrees all year round and they are awarded to ‘persons of distinction’ who have made a major contribution and earned national and international distinction in their field, in activities concerning their profession, the advancement of learning, the arts or public affairs.

Nominees often, but not always, have an existing connection with York St John University or the local area and will be considered and approved by a university committee on honorary degrees and fellowships.

York St John University Graduations 2019 Day 1

School of Education Primary Education (Lpr): Jessica-May Burgess, Caitlin Coady, Caitlin Curry, Philippa Dale, Katrina Dewsnap, Chloe Ellis, Elizabeth Jennings, Emily Jones, Chelsie Jones, Elliot Llewellyn, Amy Lumley, Katie Marchant, Rowan Mitchell, Hannah Moffat, Emily Nicholls, Rebecca Palmer, Rebecca Phillips, Katie Purshouse, Harriet Raine, Emily Robson, Jasmine Sanderson, Kimberley Smith, Laura Wells, Sophie Wells, Abbey Winfield.

Primary Education Studies: Nicholas Hall, Troy Hogarth, Stephanie Patterson, Hannah Raftery, Callum Rose.

Primary Education (Upr): Max Adams, Giles Anderson, Emily Barrett, Megan Bate, Madeline Beschizza, Gemma Brigg, Sophie Brown, Sarah Brown, Dani Calvert, Maria Clapham, Elisha Connor, Elishia Cook, William Cotson, Georgina Crossland, Rosie Davenport, Emily Davison, Maddison Eaton, Abigail Else, Bethany Eyre, Tia-Louise Field, Emily Fisher, Megan Frampton, Lucy Frost, Nicole Gray, Emily Green, Rachel Gull, Rachel Hogg Callaghan, Bethany Hollick, Emily Hood, Chelsey Howard, Millie Jackson, Sarah Jackson, Lucy James, Charlotte Jones, Sophie Kaiper-Holmes, Phoebe Kay, Georgina Lane, Victoria Lindsay, Hannah Malkin, Harry Manion, Charlotte Markham, Jack Mattison, Georgia Mccormick, Tia Mckenzie, Ailish Mcneill, Charley Metcalfe, Isobel Montgomery, Stephen Mosley, Laura Mowbray, Emma Nelson, Jessica Peachey, Lucy Ray, Lydia Redshaw, Amy Scholes, Georgina Smethurst, Katherine Smith, Thomas Symes, Dominic Townsend, Lauren Verity, Daniel Watkiss, Emily Whitehouse, Chloe Wilkinson, Madelaine Wiseman.

Initial Teacher Education Research: Caroline Elbra-Ramsay, Peter Raymond.

Postgraduate Certificate in Education - School Direct Primary: Nazia Abbas, Holly Agar, Victoria Beaumont, Paul Beckwith, Stuart Blackburn, Holly Clark, Hannah Conlin, Oneka Dollard, Deborah Eckley, Lee Farrington, Jeavanna Fenby, Abbey Fisher, Melissa Fishlock, Sarah Forster, Daniel Frost, Jemma Gilmour, Lindsay Graystone, Rachel Harrison, Samantha Hawxwell, Alexander Hester, Conor Hinde, Samantha Hutchinson, Bethany James, Susan Johnson, Michael Jukes, Joanna Keatley, Alyson Letten, Joanne Mccullagh, Reece Milner, Emma Moran, Sarah Muir, Erica Norris, Chloe O’Hara, Kimberley Ormston, Kirsty Palmer, Jemma Pickering, Tracey Purdy, Zoe Robins, Josephine Rudd, Lee Scott, Emily Severs, Harriet Slater, Thomas Sleeman, Helen Smith, Emma Taylorson, Adam Tranter, Tracey Usher, Emily Wears, Lindsey Wilson, Alice Wybrant.

Postgraduate Certificate in Education - School Direct Secondary Biology: Abigail Brown, Lisa Frank.

Postgraduate Certificate in Education - School Direct Secondary Drama: Amy Wood.

Postgraduate Certificate in Education - School Direct Secondary English: Hannah Abrahams, Rachel Granycome, Eleasha Rowney.

Postgraduate Certificate in Education - School Direct Secondary Modern Foreign Languages: Tiphaine Gillard, Zenely Martin Rios, Katy Smith.

Postgraduate Certificate in Education - School Direct Secondary Geography: Helen Farmery, Beverley Philp.

Postgraduate Certificate in Education - School Direct Secondary History: Emily Easton, Megan Hyde, Dion Rice.

Postgraduate Certificate in Education - School Direct Secondary Music: Rachel Higgs, Beatrice Moore.

Postgraduate Certificate in Education - School Direct Secondary Physical Education: Lauren Simpson, Ruby Woodcock.

Postgraduate Certificate in Education (Secondary RE): Ciaran O’Brien.

Postgraduate Certificate in Education (Lpr): Abigail Bellerby, Bethany Collins, Holly Comb, Rebecca Dale, Elizabeth Finlay, Morgan Gant, Stephanie Jackson, Rachel Lloyd-Murphy, Claire Mitchell, Connie Munro, Madeleine Onyett, Saskia Rayner, Sade Rollins, Elspeth Swan, Julia Taylor, Megan Allatt, Alexandra Avison, Megan Boe, Rachel Bradley, Lauren Brown, Alexander Burbidge, Catherine Campbell, Kate Frankland, Lucy Froggatt, Alastair Geddes, Christopher Hales, Jamie Harrison, Megan Hubbard, James Hunt, Ryan Keen, Poppy Knocker, Klaudia Ralcewicz, Chloe Rayner, Lauren Richardson, Sophie Rogers, Harriet Shaw, Oliver Wain, Charlotte Ward, Alice Whiles.

School of Education and School of Sport Children, Young People and Families: Charlotte Allen, Emma Brown, Kerrie Brown, Katie Cannavo, Lydia Chapman, Jenni Clements, Lucy Jakeman, Eliesha Lawrence, Katie Lee-Brown, Kimberley Martin, Hannah Scott, Bethany Trenchard.

Children, Young People and Families with Special Educational Needs and Inclusion: Rebecca Buttery.

Early Childhood Studies: Bethany Ashworth, Charlotte Atkinson, Lucy Blythe, Katty Chai, Emma Chapman, Rebecca Cook, Adele Corner, Jonnie Crampton, Eleanor Day, Raghad Douba, Jessica Ellery, Emily Graham, Lucy Griffiths, Emily Hayes, Olivia Henry, Emily Jackson, Katie Jagger, Emma Keenleyside, Bethany Lamburn, Thiesa Lewin, Jessica Maughan, Abigail Middleton, Zara Nicholson, Samantha Oakes, Rebecca Outen, Holly Owen, Charlotte Patterson, Nikkia Rand, Stephanie Sharpe, Shannon Simpson, Cory Smith, Kirby Starling, Rebecca Stead, Hayley Stephenson, Elena Walker-Ravena, Abbie Walton, Rachel Williams.

Sport Coaching: Hayley Bargh, Daniel Carre, Kraigan Cunningham, Callum Oakes, Christopher O’Gara, Jamie Plumbly, Adam Spendelow, Alexandra Tetley.

Development and Education of Children and Young People: Early Years (Top up): Christie Macauley, Kerri Martin, Ann Simpson.

Development and Education of Children and Young People: Early Years (FD:EY): Kelly Atkinson, Lisa Auckland, Gemma Church.

Development and Education of Children and Young People: Special Educational Needs and Inclusion (Top up): Natalie Bishop, Lyndsay Drumm, Peter Manning, Philippa Mcguigan, Hannah Scott, Kimberly Watson.

Development and Education of Children and Young People: Special Educational Needs and Inclusion (FD:SENI): Allison Chalk, Amie Clayton, Caroline Coates.

Children, Young People and Families and Education Studies: Jasmine Jameson, Choi Tung Lui, Callum Murray, Amy Oldfield, Courtney Relph.

Sport Development and Coaching: William Astill, Andrew Bassett, Emily Betham, Daniel Collinson, Rebecca Fishwick, Alex Hassett, Samuel Hutchinson, Kate Merryweather, Charlotte Moy, George Pickthall, Lisa Skelton, Francesca Smith, Ben Toal, Aaron Virr, Sarah Ward.

Education Studies: Maddison Bedford, Gemma Britton, Mckenna Curbeson, Kristina Curtis, Emily Dixon, Kelsey Gallimore, Alexandra Gibson, Sally Langan, Hannah Miller, Kaitlin Roberts, Adam Thompson, Hannah Timms, Rebekah Turnbull, Samantha Webster, Madeleine Wright.

Education Studies with Japanese: Harriet Chapman.

Education Studies with Special Educational Needs and Inclusion: Megan Coull, Bethany Druett, Dean Dyble, Katie Dyson, Hannah Gordon, Hannah Gumbley, Sophie Jarvis,Asha Matthan-Rogers, Stevie Mould.

Education: Early Childhood: Elen Oakenfull.

Education: Mentoring: Elizabeth Bracewell.

Education: Danielle Agar, Elizabeth Arnold, Ethan Butteriss, Louise Carr, Anne Hamlett, Abby King, Alice Robson, Alec Scott, Rachel Sigsworth.

Nutrition and Exercise for Health: Courtney Catterson, Arron Dews, Emma Galley, Connah Haycock, Charlotte Housden, Eleanor Johnson, Jennah Mackenzie Du Lieu, Emma Matthews, Chloe Shaw, Eliesha Singh, Jade Smith, Olivia Southam.

Physical Education and Youth Sport: Luke Applegarth, Samuel Bacon, Taylor Brown, Jared Champion, Georgia Chapman, Luke Clayton, Benjamin Cole, Thomas Crawley, Kay-Lee Dinsdale-Sherrington, Jonathan Henshaw, Kelsey Holmes, Julia Hopkins, Anna Hubery, Katherine Imrie, Charlotte Jacques-Smith, Bethany Johnson, William Lawn, Amy Leake, Abdulmalek Nuh Ali, Calvin Park, Jamie Perrenoud, Jordan Pick, Hannah Popple, Abigail Reed, Sam Royle, Eloise Sanders, Jake Sewell, Victoria Shepherd, Tom Sheppeck, Benjamin Steel, Emily Wheater, Sophie Whiting, Joanne Williamson.

Education Studies Research: Charlotte Haines Lyon, Julie Pearson, Alexander Sinclair.

Sport and Exercise Science Research: Tracy Donachie.

Sport Research: Laura Fenwick.

Strength and Conditioning: George Barker, Jack Daysley, James Fogg, Adam Harris, Ethan Mack, Callum Ryan, Nathan Saltmer, Alex Stevenson, Jeremy Wood.

Sports Science and Injury Rehabilitation: Olivia Bolsher, Sinead Bowers, Katherine Boyd, James Bullen, Adam Burdett, Sam Conrich, Megan Cox, Abigail Cranswick, Matthew Dace, Gabriella Dunn, Jordan Edwards, James Fell, Amelia Fowler, Lucy Garnett, Karolina Gasiorowska, Callum Harriott-Brown, Aimee Harrison, Thomas Hawkins, Sophie Hopper, Robbie Hurworth, Enam Islam, Leah Jones, Dominic Knox, Sofia Kyriakides, Tammara Lambley, Conor Ledgeway, Rianna Manson, Joshua Marris, Robyn Myers, Tyler Parkinson, Victoria Purvis, Emily Routledge, Corey Speed, Beth Taylor, Lucy Tilbury, Alice Turner, Hannah Walton, Caitlin Warden, Joel Williams, Chloe Woodhouse.

Strength and Conditioning: Kevin Borwell.

Development and Education of Children and Young People (Top up): Samantha Bainbridge, Lauren Boyne, Joanna Bromley, Elisabeth Graham-Bell, Happiness Isgate, Leanne Kitching, Jayne Rosamond, Michelle Tunmore.

Development and Education of Children and Young People (FD:DEC): Rebecca Blenkinsop, Tonia Burton, Amy Mcmahon, Del Stevens, Naomi Waldock.

Education Studies and English Literature:Bethany Smith.