Reddish, who has also served as a guest lecturer at the university, is one of 11 inspirational figures to receive honorary doctorates during its summer graduation ceremonies.

"To receive it from your hometown is a huge, huge honour and my family are so proud because we were from such a humble background and a humble environment," he said.

"We never expected anything like that would happen in our family."

Reddish has a distinguished history with the Paralympics Movement, having won three silver and two bronze swimming medals across three Games - Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 - before moving into governance.

From 2008 to 2017, he served as chairman of the British Paralympic Association and was then elected to the IPC’s Governing Board last September.

He was also appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list for 2017, for his services to sport.

"Tim received an honorary degree from Nottingham Trent University in recognition of his significant contribution to sustained excellence and achievement in Paralympic sport across three decades, initially as a competitor and more recently as a performance director and contributor to the Paralympic Movement in the United Kingdom and worldwide," a Nottingham Trent University spokesperson said.

Reddish, who lost his sight in 1988 due to the hereditary degenerative condition retinitis pigmentosa, took over from Mike Brace as BPA chairman.

In 2013, he was confirmed to continue in the position for another four years having stood unopposed.