Laura Rasdell
The Gold Duke of Edingburgh award story for me, is a story of two halves. The first half of the award ran just as everyone elses award would normally run, undertaking their various sections to complete the award, but then the pandemic happened.
I was lucky enough to do my Residential section with the Tallships Youth Trust shortly before lockdown 1, in February 2020 (a chilly time for sailing). It was a fantastic experience bringing together young people from all strands of life and it was great to see how we all bonded quickly and enjoyed working together, relaxing together and learning together. Nobody was excluded, and any apprehensions I had about doing an activity without anybody I knew quickly disappeared.
My second memory would be that the latter half of my Gold award was very different from the first half. My Physical and Skills sections which were Dance lessons and Piano lessions respectivel, which I had to do via Zoom; in my many ways it was reassuring to be able to keep doing these in this way, it brought us together at a time that could have been isolating. My volunteering was at a local community shop that kept open during the pandemic, so I was able to continue this and to be part of a long lifeline of people who helped keep services running for many communities.
The whole experience for me has shown that sometimes plans need to change, but adapting doesn't lessen the experience and in many ways has shown other opportunities for how to complete the award.
I was lucky enough to do my Residential section with the Tallships Youth Trust shortly before lockdown 1, in February 2020 (a chilly time for sailing). It was a fantastic experience bringing together young people from all strands of life and it was great to see how we all bonded quickly and enjoyed working together, relaxing together and learning together. Nobody was excluded, and any apprehensions I had about doing an activity without anybody I knew quickly disappeared.
My second memory would be that the latter half of my Gold award was very different from the first half. My Physical and Skills sections which were Dance lessons and Piano lessions respectivel, which I had to do via Zoom; in my many ways it was reassuring to be able to keep doing these in this way, it brought us together at a time that could have been isolating. My volunteering was at a local community shop that kept open during the pandemic, so I was able to continue this and to be part of a long lifeline of people who helped keep services running for many communities.
The whole experience for me has shown that sometimes plans need to change, but adapting doesn't lessen the experience and in many ways has shown other opportunities for how to complete the award.
