An award-winning social entrepreneur and youth leader is being recognised as part of University of the West of Scotland’s winter graduations.
 
John Loughton BEM, founder and CEO of global leadership company, Dare2Lead, was celebrated as part of a ceremony taking place at Paisley Abbey today (Tuesday 12 November).
 
John is a high-profile activist, social entrepreneur, campaigner and leadership speaker. He is most recently well known as Founder and Chair of Scran Academy, an innovative education charity that empowers young people to succeed in learning and life. This included leading the production of almost 200,000 meals for vulnerable families during covid.
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Since running his first campaign aged 11, he has worked in more than 60 countries across five continents, represented the UK internationally, and engaged with numerous governments, businesses and world leaders. John has directly reached almost one million young people with his work, and was named Outstanding Youth of the World 2013.
 
John frequently sites growing up in a household in an area of poverty and high social exclusion, and the impact of drugs, mental health issues and family breakdown as his motivation. As a teenager, he helped found the first ever Youth Forum in his area and was a committed community activist.
 
Arno Van der Zwet, Professor of Politics and Public Policy at UWS, delivered John’s laureation, which reflected on his incredible career journey to date.

“It’s a privilege to receive this award from University of the West of Scotland, an institution I guest lecture in and which I have admired for a long time. I particularly like the way UWS nurtures and promotes the education of people from disadvantaged backgrounds, widening access to higher education for those who may not have thought it possible to go to University. It was incredibly inspiring to be part of UWS’s graduation ceremony today and to see the amazing achievements of its students is so inspiring.”
John Loughton
“Graduation is the most important event in our University calendar, giving us the opportunity to showcase the fantastic achievements of our students and celebrate each and every one of their successes amongst their families and peers. “We were delighted to present John with an Honorary Doctorate. John’s story is inspirational and I know will have resonated with many of our students graduating today. John embodies many of the qualities we value here at UWS and his experience and expertise has a hugely positive impact on those he works with.”
Professor James Miller, Principal and Vice-Chancellor