SPECIAL events have taken place to welcome the Archbishop of York into his new role as chancellor of the University of Cumbria.

A formal inauguration ceremony was held on Wednesday (April 27) in Carlisle Cathedral to welcome Archbishop Stephen Cottrell, following his appointment as Chancellor in 2020.

The chancellor was able to confer academic awards upon some of the 2,700 graduands who are taking part in celebrations this week, as the University of Cumbria hosts its first graduation ceremonies since the start of the Covid pandemic.

Archbishop Stephen said: "It’s a huge honour to become chancellor and I’ve been more excited than I expected to be.

"Having been someone who struggled a bit in education, and got educated the long and the hard way, it has made me believe in it more than ever and how important it is to unlock potential to create wellbeing, to change lives and change the world."

The 17 graduation ceremonies that began on Monday will come to a close on Friday. They bring together many of those who successfully completed University of Cumbria academic programmes of study in 2020 and 2021 across the academic fields of the arts, education, health, science and environment, and business, industry and leadership.