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John donates a percentage of his sales to charity and makes
significant donations of art work to charity each year. In
November 2012, he and his wife Maureen were invited by
HRHThe Princess Royal to become Vice Presidents of The
Carers Trust. In 2005 he established The Jolomo Foundation,
a charitable body aimed at promoting and encouraging the
painting of the Scottish landscape. Through The Foundation,
the Jolomo Awards were launched in 2006 with the first Awards
being made in June 2007. The Awards prizes total £35,000, the
winner receiving £25,000, making them the largest privately
funded Arts Awards in the UK.
In November 2008 John was presented with his
first Honorary Doctorate from the University
of the West of Scotland and in November 2009
he received his second from Abertay Dundee
University for “A significant contribution
to Scottish culture”. In the 2011 New Year’s
Honours List John received an OBE for services
to art and to charity in Scotland.
The newly refurbished Clydebank Town Hall, Museum &
Gallery hosted a major retrospective of John’s work in June 2013
which attracted over 20,000 visitors.