The part of DofE I remember most vividly was the expedition. My school provided us with ancient orange cotton tents which leaked terribly when it poured with rain. The school had also provided food for the expedition but by the time my best friend Charlotte and I got to the pile of food to choose from there was only butterscotch Angel Delight left so we spent the weekend living off Angel Delight which was actually rather good as it didn't require any cooking, only mixing!

At night, it poured with rain and the rain poured in through the orange cotton tent. I brought a small torch which we hung up in the tent to provide some light but it was so chilly and damp that it wasn't very conducive to chatting. By the morning the three of us in our tent were soaked but the sun came out and soon dried us off. My map reading skills were not good and just as it was my turn to navigate the "assessor" arrived. He not only asked me to tell him where we were and in which field but then picked a blade of grass and asked me which corner of the field we were in. Thankfully between us we got the answer right and passed!

The other part of DofE I remember well was service. I did some befriending of residents in a local care home and also cut down rhododendrons as part of a project at Banstead Wood, earning a green t-shirt that I kept for years.

I valued the fact that there were multiple elements to DofE and also that the expedition and service elements in particular meant that I had to spend time with people I didn't normally. My aunt did her Gold Award in the 1960s and has as a result always been considered one of the most "intrepid" women in our family. I will suggest that she uploads her memories.