A Fulwood couple who have been campaigning for mental health support following their daughter’s death to suicide during lockdown are to be recognised by the city’s university.
Paul and Sharon O’Gara will receive honorary awards from the University of Lancashire.
Their daughter, Mary, was training to be a nurse at the city’s university when she took her own life in May 2020 and had battled with depression. She was just 27.
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Her parents have since set up the Mary O’Gara Foundation, a charity which aims to encourage people to talk more openly about mental health and seek support.
Paul and Sharon told Blog Preston: “We are so extremely honoured to receive such a prestigious award from the University of Lancashire and we are so very proud of the work we have been doing alongside the university and also the wider community, and long may this, and the success its creating continue.
“We campaign to encourage people, young and old to have open and honest conversations around the topic of suicide and their mental health.
“The skills and knowledge learned from the training sessions we offer via our website www.marysstory.org.uk and our community engagement work empowers people and communities to identify, respond and offer help to those in need and act with care and compassion.
“Research shows that with appropriate early intervention and support, suicide can be prevented. Every life saved, and every conversation started, is a step toward lasting change. The Mary O’Gara Foundation honours Mary’s memory with hope, action and community impact.”
The couple will receive their honorary award on Wednesday 8 July in the graduation week which runs at the Preston campus.
Fellow Prestonian and civic engagement champion Peter Lumsden will also be receiving an honorary fellowship.
The retired biosciences academic becomes an honorary doctorate for the significant contribution he has made to community engagement and social justice.
He has held senior roles including the chair of Preston Faith Forum, chair of the Preston chapter of Citizens UK and has worked on interfaith collaboration and social justice throughout Lancashire for decades.
Other honours during the ceremonies will also go to the chef patron-director of Michelin starred Northcote, Lisa Goodwin-Allen and author and broadcaster Lemn Sissay OBE.
Lisa will receive the honorary fellowship for her contribution to British cuisine and the hospitality sector, she has cooked for royalty and regularly appears on MasterChef: The Professionals, Saturday Kitchen and James Martin’s Saturday Morning.
Lemn receives an honorary doctorate for significant contribute to arts and literature. As well as being a renowned poet and playwright he is a passionate advocate for social justice having grown up in care. The Lancastrian author has published 10 books and written several plays which celebrate identity, inspire hope and challenge injustice.
He was the official poet for the London 2012 Olympics and has received an OBE for services to literature and charity.
Three alumni achievement awards are also to be handed out during the graduation ceremonies, going to Edward Jolly, Paul Hornby MBE and Mark Hardy.
Mr Jolly who graduated with an MSc in building services in 2007 has since been involved in some of the most complex engineering projects in the world including the world’s tallest tower Burj Khalifa, in Dubai, a FIFA World Cup stadium in Qatar, and 23 Marina, the world’s tallest fully residential tower.
Accounting and MBA graduate Mr Hornby who understood a masters in 2000, is the society and community prizer winner.
He has since become chairman of Barrow Football Club and managing director of family accountancy firm JF Hornby & Co created a foundation which has given £400,000 in grants to a wide range of charitable, voluntary and grassroots organisations across Furness.
The Lifetime Achievement award will go to Mr Hardy, who graduated in 1994 from the BA (Hons) Fashion Promotion course. He has a rich history in marketing and PR, having created and led some of the world’s most iconic brands. He held senior leadership roles at Disney, Sony PlayStation, Sony Music and Syco Entertainment (The X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent TV shows) and now runs his own garden and landscape design practice.
