Two Journalism students received an added boost at the graduation ceremony this week with the presentation of two special awards.

 

Laura Day scooped the prestigious Neil Warburton Prize for attaining the highest grade at graduation, while Lara Richards won the Margaret Fairclough Prize for skills shown in sub-editing her final project work.

 

Established in 2000 in memory of a student who sadly passed away while on the course, the Neil Warburton Prize is the highest accolade possible for a Journalism graduate and the winner receives a £100 bursary from the Warburton family for their efforts.  Laura Day believes that it was her hard work and determination that led to greatness.  

 

She said: “I feel great to receive the award.  I remember being

in the induction session when I first started the course and

being told that not many people get firsts on this course and

I always wanted to be one of those people.  To not only get a

first but also the highest mark is a fantastic achievement for

me and I could hardly be more proud.

 

“You don’t get anywhere without hard work,” she added. “I

would advise anyone who wants to follow in my footsteps

just to work hard, apply themselves and do the best they can.  

If you do those things the feeling of achievement at the end

of it all is fantastic.”

 

Lara Richards, meanwhile, was awarded the Margaret Fairclough Prize for the excellent work produced on her final project travel magazine.  The award was started in support of young people without the provisions to go into higher education and each year LJMU backer Lynne Beardwood donates £1000 to be divided into four prizes for Media Critical and Creative Arts faculty students.  Lara said: “It’s absolutely amazing to win the award because after so long planning my final project and actually producing the magazine it was great to be recognised for all my hard work.

 

“When I was producing the magazine I’d sometimes spend 10 hours on the computer planning pages and it was really tough,” she added. “It’s fantastic that at the end of the course and after all the moments where I didn’t think I’d do as well as I hoped that I’ve not only got a degree but also a special award too.  It’s unbelievable.”

 

Jack Davies and Caroline Odogwu were also presented with silver stars for their contribution to the (World of Work) WoW Factor initiative pioneered by the university.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Dan Burke, Website Editor

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Professor Chris Frost presents the graduation awards to Lara Richards (left) and Laura Day (right)

Journalism graduation in pictures >>