Exceptional student Miles receives ultimate honour at City of London ceremony

An outstanding New City College student who has given hundreds of hours of his time volunteering and helping others was admitted to the Freedom of the City of London at a ceremony steeped in tradition at the Guildhall.

Miles Hayward, 19, who has been a student with NCC since he was 14 years old, was given the incredible honour in recognition of his tremendous service to the community.

He stood before the Clerk of the Court, read aloud the Declaration of a Freeman and received The Copy of the Freedom – a beautifully inscribed parchment with his name on – during the historic ritual in one of London’s most famous ceremonial centres.

Watched by his proud family, he also received a copy of the Rules for the Conduct of Life which dates all the way back to the Middle Ages, and he met the Lord Mayor of London and other dignitaries after the presentation.

Miles started at New City College studying BTEC Level 2 Engineering alongside GCSE Maths and English Language in 2019. After achieving Distinctions and Grade 8s across the board, he progressed to the BTEC Level 3 Engineering course, gaining the highest grade possible, Triple Distinction*.

Having enjoyed the computer coding elements of the Engineering course, and being still only 17, Miles decided to study further and moved on to the Information Technology course at NCC Havering Sixth Form. He is currently on track to again achieve Triple Distinction*.

An exceptional student, Miles received the STEM Student of The Year Award and the 14-16 Student of The Year Award while at New City College. He was also a highly regarded Student Ambassador.

Away from college Miles has constantly pushed himself to be the person that others can depend on and has been a long-term member of the Brentwood Sea Cadets. Here he developed his skills on the water and became a British Canoeing Paddlesport Instructor at the age of 14 – the youngest cadet ever to receive the Master Coxswain.

When Covid hit, he taught his Commanding Officer how to use Zoom and then took part in weekly calls with the unit, checking in with other cadets to see how they were doing. He also ran the Environment Workshop at the first virtual National Cadet Conference which was open to all 15,000 cadets. He said he found it incredibly empowering as he was able to facilitate cadets from across the country to take an interest in their local environment – showing them how to check their local air quality and river pollution levels online and giving them practical advice on what they could do next. During the summer of 2021, Miles taught over 500 Army and Sea Cadets and staff how to paddleboard.

He then went on to win the CVQO (now Cadet Vocational College) Westminster Award 2022 – a competitive trophy, open to all uniformed service cadets across the country. From the initial 9,000 competitors, Miles made it through the various stages of selection, including a residential camp testing his leadership skills, and a gruelling expedition in Cornwall, to eventually be named the winner.

His overjoyed mum Sam said: “Miles has achieved a great deal in his young life and has dedicated so much time as a volunteer over the last few years to enhancing the lives of others, whether that is through teaching skills to enable others to access the water, educating young people in how to care for the environment, or just keeping in touch with those who may need to hear a friendly voice.”

She added: “As Miles has been a student at all the New City College Havering campuses – Ardleigh Green, Rainham and Havering Sixth Form – he is definitely a product of the efforts of the college’s fantastic and dedicated staff.

“He has thoroughly enjoyed his time at college and his teachers have had such a positive effect on his life, and the lives of other students. We are very grateful to New City College for giving Miles a great experience and for encouraging him to be the person he has become.”

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The photograph above shows Miles holding his framed Freedom parchment and his sister Apple-Jane (also a former New City College student) holding The Rules for The Conduct Of Life book.

In the other photos, Miles is pictured at the Guildhall ceremony with his mum and dad and sister Apple-Jane and his is also photographed with The Lord Mayor of the City of London, Michael Mainelli, with the Lady Mayoress, and a Sheriff along with other dignitaries and Sir Charles Bowman, a past Lord Mayor of the City of London.