JAY BLADES MBE

In receiving Jay Blades MBE as our inaugural Chancellor, Buckinghamshire New University (BNU) marks a bright, new beginning with Jay as our most prominent champion.

As one of our most inspiring and accomplished former alumnus, Jay is a shining example of the unwavering empowerment this University strives to engender in our community of students.

As Chancellor, through his example and support, Jay will help BNU in our mission to transform lives through the power of education and our drive to widen participation in higher education and promote equal opportunities for all.

Jay arrived at the University in 2000, a mature student whose promise and insatiable appetite for knowledge was limited only by his challenges with reading. He was diagnosed with dyslexia at BNU and then received the additional support he required to flourish in his undergraduate degree. He has since gone on to achieve astonishing success as a public figure, community champion and role model.

His remarkable ascendance, from deprivation and very little schooling to award-winning broadcaster and social entrepreneur, is matched only by his steadfast commitment to enriching this University’s community through civic engagement and innovative heritage programmes.

Indeed, Jay’s endorsement of a local campaign to help disadvantaged adults learn to read, alongside his ambition to work with BNU to revive the University’s furniture design, speak to a lasting social good that will build an enduring and meaningful legacy to his role as Chancellor.

Jay’s life is his body of work: a complex and at times difficult journey through which he has wrought unique beauty. By sheer will and determination he has built a career using the power of his voice, describing the world as he sees it with an unvarnished candour and razor-like wit.

Before a flourishing career in television, Jay established the Out of the Dark charity with his then partner Jade, here in High Wycombe, to help underprivileged youngsters enhance their life and career prospects. Jay has also supported The Black Fund which invests in equality.

Despite his difficulty with dyslexia, Jay has written two books. The first is a deeply powerful memoir which charts his incredible journey and openly highlights the challenges he has faced on the path to success.

In 2021, our BNU community was enormously proud to see Jay receive an MBE for his services to craft.

And, in his capacity as Chancellor of Buckinghamshire New University, we know that Jay will use this platform to inspire others with his indomitable spirit, and to instil in our student body the primacy of a good education and to be ambitious for their futures.

Jay’s example is one of this University’s great legacies and for those who are studying at BNU nurturing their own unique and bold ambitions, it will surely serve as a marvellous beacon whose brilliance will light their way long after they graduate from BNU.

Buckinghamshire New University is deeply honoured and proud to receive Jay Blades MBE as our first Chancellor, and to bestow on him an Honorary Doctorate in recognition of his community work supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, and his significant contribution to furniture-making and craft.

We look forward keenly to our bright future and all that we will achieve together.