Three inspiring individuals will be granted the Freedom of Kirklees at a ceremony at Huddersfield Town Hall.

Invited guests will attend the ceremony to honour volunteer and fundraiser Joan Gorton, Poet Laureate Simon Armitage CBE and Hollywood actor Sir Patrick Stewart OBE.

Mrs Gorton, of Dalton, a volunteer for the Huddersfield branch of Epilepsy Action since the mid-1970s, will attend the ceremony along with poet and broadcaster Mr Armitage, who hails from Marsden.

Mirfield-born Sir Patrick, a former Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield, lives in the United States and will join the ceremony via video link.

The ceremony, hosted by Mayor of Kirklees Clr Nosheen Dad, will take place on August 7.

Only two other individuals have been granted the Freedom of Kirklees since the council was founded in 1974.

 

 

Earlier this year the then Mayor of Kirklees Clr Cahal Burke announced the honours to mark the council’s 50th anniversary.

The two other individuals honoured in the past were former Huddersfield East MP Sir William (Bill) Mallalieu in 1980 and Dewsbury-born first woman Speaker of the House of Commons Baroness Betty Boothroyd in 1992.

The three latest Honorary Freemen will receive a scroll and be invited to sign the Roll of Honour. Their names have also been engraved on a commemorative board at Huddersfield Town Hall.

Clr Dad said: “All three individuals are truly deserving of this honour for the contribution they have made in their respective fields.

“We should be proud and celebrate those who make a difference and have pride in their local roots.

“This is a momentous occasion for all those involved and a fitting tribute as Kirklees Council celebrates its 50th anniversary.”

The award is purely ceremonial and doesn’t confer any special rights.

The following groups have also received the Freedom award:

  • The 3rd Battalion Yorkshire Volunteers (March 1979);
  • The citizens of the French town of Besançon, to mark 50 years of twinning with Huddersfield in October 2005;
  • The Yorkshire Regiment in September 2006 (a transfer of rights from The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment);
  • The Rifles Regiment in July 2011 (a transfer of rights from The King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry).

Charity volunteer Joan Gorton who has given her all for 50 years honoured with Freedom of Kirklees