Jay Blades - Investiture 2023 and Chancellor Day programme

ORDER OF PROCEEDINGS

Presentation party

Please stand when the procession party enters the auditorium.

The presentation party is made up of the Pro-Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Pro-Vice Chancellors, and our new Chancellor, along with heads of the University’s academic Schools and Directorates and the sabbatical team of Bucks Students’ Union.

Formal opening of the investiture

Please be seated after the presentation party is in place on stage and the investiture has been declared open by the Master of Ceremonies.

Investiture ceremony schedule

Welcome

Address from the Pro-Chancellor, Maggie Galliers CBE

Address from the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nick Braisby

Award of Honorary Doctorate to Jay Blades MBE

Investiture of Jay Blades MBE as BNU’s inaugural Chancellor

Address from Jay Blades MBE

Ceremony closes. Please stand as the procession party departs the auditorium.

Processional music

The processional music was specially created for the University by members of the RAF Central Band under the direction of the RAF’s Principal Director of Music, Wing Commander Morrell OBE, who was awarded an honorary doctorate from BNU in 2019 in recognition of his international standing within military music and charity work. Our thanks to Wing Commander Morrell and the RAF trumpeters who will perform a fanfare to mark Jay Blades’ formal investiture as University Chancellor.

WELCOME

Welcome to the investiture of our inaugural Chancellor, Jay Blades MBE. Today marks a new, exciting chapter in our University’s history which dates back to 1891 when the School of Science and Art was founded here in High Wycombe.

We welcome you today during one of the most successful periods in our University’s history. Our student population is increasing, we have a healthy financial surplus, and we are embarking on a significant estate redevelopment at our High Wycombe campus. Most importantly, our students value their experience at BNU as we rank 5 th overall for student satisfaction amongst all UK universities.

Today’s ceremony is the culmination of a robust process to identify the University’s first Chancellor, someone befitting to represent our institution in both a ceremonial and ambassadorial capacity. It was important to us that this role was held by someone who championed BNU’s values and our proud heritage of working with and for the community; offering a distinctive brand of vocational and profession-focused education; and opening the doors of higher education to everyone, including those who are traditionally excluded.

Since graduating with a degree in criminology with philosophy from BNU in 2004, where his dyslexia was both identified and supported by the University, Jay has become an award-winning broadcaster, modern furniture restorer and social entrepreneur, and received an MBE for his services to craft. Our University community is so proud of all that Jay has achieved.

Jay is a shining example of the transformative power of the education we provide at BNU. I am confident that as Buckinghamshire New University’s Chancellor, through his example and support, Jay will further our mission to widen participation in higher education and promote equal opportunities for all. We are especially excited to work closely with Jay in developing new courses in furniture and design.

I hope that Jay, his guests and everyone from BNU and the local community attending enjoy this special day.

Professor Nick Braisby Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive

Maggie Galliers CBE Pro-Chancellor and Chair of Council

PROUD TO BE BNU

Our University has been transforming lives for more than 130 years, from developing our students’ full potential to making a positive impact on the environment and our communities. We support the local economy through the activity of our students, staff and alumni, with our beneficial impact estimated to be in the region of £0.95bn annually. BNU students work in and support many key local industries, including the vitally important health and social care sector, and are active contributors to local and regional charities and voluntary groups. In the past year, our students volunteered 16,058 hours of their time and raised £12,770 for charitable causes, including DrugFam and Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity as part of the Students’ Union’s Raise and Give programme. We provide an education that works for all, regardless of background or circumstance, which equips our students with skills for life, helping them rise to the global challenges of the 21 st century. We aim to give our students the best possible experience at BNU. In the most recent National Student Survey, BNU students ranked us in the top five for student satisfaction among all UK universities, and we were ranked number one in the UK by our postgraduate research students.

Our students are the heartbeat of our thriving campuses, and we do everything we can to help them to succeed in their studies, life after University and in their chosen careers. In the past year, we have supported students in the cost-of-living crisis with a package worth more than £1m, including accommodation rates frozen at pre-pandemic levels, 30% cheaper food in our cafés, free evening meals three times a week, and increased bursaries and scholarships. We also increased the Jay Blades Thrive Bursary fund by £170k to £500k, so more students from low-income families, from areas with high levels of deprivation, or areas where very few students go to university, can access support for their studies and living costs.

STUDENT POPULATION

7,671 BNU students | 13,797 Partner students | 1,040 Apprentices

December 2022

INVESTED £100M+

Over the past 10 years to create state-of-the-art facilities.

RESEARCH EXCELLENCE FRAMEWORK 2021

44% of BNU research was internationally excellent or world-leading.

100% of our Art, Design, History, Practice and Theory research had an impact of internationally excellent or world-leading quality – joint 1 st in UK.

STUDENT SATISFACTION

Top 5 UK university for student satisfaction.

No. 1 UK university for postgraduate research student experience.

Rose seven places to rank 70 th place in the Guardian University Guide 2022, fourth consecutive improvement in overall position.

Top-10 in UK for teaching quality and top-20 for student experience at non-specialist HE providers.

11 th place in Whatuni’s 2022 University of the Year.

Our best performance since the student comparison site launched.

Our healthcare students received multiple nominations at the Student Nursing Times Awards; we supported 34 talented student-athletes by helping them to thrive in their academic studies whilst competing at domestic and global levels; and our annual Art & Design Show showcased the high calibre work of our talented students to the public and employers.

Fulfilling our commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, BNU is committed to playing its part in ending poverty in all its forms. We support local charitable organisations to tackle food poverty in High Wycombe, recently highlighted as the area with the highest levels of food insecurity in the UK. BNU has funded learning resources for Read Easy Chilterns’ first 100 readers to support their efforts to boost adult literacy rates. And our community supports the Beauty Banks charity in tackling hygiene poverty.

The University works with local schools and colleges to help improve attainment, supporting pupils to realise their potential. More than a quarter (28%) of the young people we worked with last year would be first-generation University students; about one-in-three (32%) were members of the Black, Asian and Minority

Ethnic communities; and 5% identified as disabled. Over half (55%) students lived in areas with low participation to university and a third lived in high deprivation areas. In addition, we welcomed students from the Probation Service, Young Carers, 45 children from service families, and 77 care-experienced students. Almost a quarter (23%) of the young people we worked with received free school meals.

Building on the University’s pioneering work in creating a nationally important pledge scheme, to improve access to and success in higher education for members of the Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, Showmen and Boater communities, we are proud to have designated special bursaries in support of these goals. We have also created bursaries to support care-experienced students, and refugees and asylum seekers, enabling them to benefit from tailored financial, accommodation and pastoral support to help them succeed in their studies and reach their full potential.

Recognising BNU’s excellence across the environment, philanthropy, community and workplace.

MoD Defence Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award

Celebrating BNU’s outstanding support for those who serve, veterans and their families.

Local outreach in schools

28% of young people we work with would be firstgeneration university students.

55% students live in areas with low participation to university.

Carbon footprint

Successfully reduced our carbon footprint by 55% since 2011.

Global impact

BNU is one of 18 international partners on an EUIndian-funded £4.3m PANIWATER Indian water treatment project.

33% live in high-deprivation areas.

CSR Accreditation Gold Award

JAY BLADES MBE

INAUGURAL CHANCELLOR OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE NEW UNIVERSITY

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.

Photography of Jay Blades, © Copyright BNU, Matt Fowler, Lisa Whiting, Hungry Jay and Richard James Photography

Jay Blades MBE - Inaugural Chancellor of Buckinghamshire New University

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.

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