I joined 859 Dalgety Bay ATC Squadron in 2001 at aged 15 moving from England to Scotland in my teens was hard and I hadn’t fitted in at school. Quickly our commanding officer had us starting our Bronze DofE it was great fun, quickly we went on to complete our silver DofE award with the help of my Now husband who was in our hiking group. In 2003 the same group of us went for it again to complete Gold! I still at age 36 can’t believe i managed the 4 day expedition, I look back really proud of myself that through the struggles of rain, midges, blisters and sprains we never gave up and pushed it to the finish line in Glen clova. It’s an experience that will always stay with me. I completed that journey at 16 and still speak regularly with the people who made up our group including my husband ?. Now our nearly 11 year old already has her sights of joining the ATC and starting her bronze. The best bit is one member of our group is now an DofE assessor. Most of all I don’t think I would of got onto my nursing diploma at Dundee University without this on my CV.
So from my family we want to thank the Duke of Edinburgh for starting up this award, I gained a love of Scotland and hill walking a diploma and my wonderful husband.
Rest in peace