Incredible Edible Todmorden Chair becomes honorary Fellow

Pam, who is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Manufacturing, Chair of Pennine Prospects, has dedicated her time to local communities, striving to make local food growing accessible and free, whilst inspiring and enthusing others.

Speaking at her ceremony, Pam commented: "The Incredible Edible project is an experiment to see if we can unite us all around the concept of food, help us to work better together, redefine the spaces we're in and build a stronger town for our children. We're seeing if we can replicate it all over Yorkshire and all over England.

"I'm delighted and touched to receive the award of Honorary Fellow of the University. It's a fantastic university and to be given this honour is really meaningful and a once-in-a-lifetime occasion."

Pam has held many important regional and national positions. She was formerly the Leader of Calderdale Council, Deputy Chair and Acting Chair of the Countryside Agency, Board member of Yorkshire Forward and Chair of the National Countryside Access Forum and the Calderdale NHS Trust. In 2005 Pam was appointed the CBE for services to the environment.

Pam is one of the founders of the highly influential Incredible Edible Tordmorden project. This innovative initiative has attracted national and international interest, with the 'Incredible Edible' ethos of local communities becoming involved in growing their own food in underutilised spaces being adopted in towns and neighbourhoods across the UK and abroad. In 2010, The Prince of Wales visited Todmorden to see the work of the project and has become a key supporter and champion ever since.

Pam has been involved extensively with Leeds Metropolitan University, giving a range of talks on her approach to community-centred environmental development, and working with staff and students in the Faculty of Arts, Environment and Technology on a series of projects.

The graduation celebrations are taking place at the University's Headingley Campus from Monday23 to Friday 27 July, where over 5,000 students will graduate over five days, alongside ten honorary degree recipients.

Others receiving honorary degrees from Leeds Metropolitan include England rugby union head coach Stuart Lancaster, Harry Potter actor Matthew Lewis, Red or Dead designer Wayne Hemmingway, Olympic torch designer Edward Barber, Huddersfield Town chairman Dean Hoyle and Mumtaz Khan Akbar- the founder and owner of the Mumtaz Food Group.