As a teacher I have been a DofE volunteer in schools in which I have worked. When I first became a teacher I immediately volunteered to help the Youth Centre DofE unit. It was a great way to see the kids I taught in a different light. I loved being part of expeditions and backwalking to check in with groups. It was a fun challenge trying to guess where on earth they could have gone wrong and sometimes puzzling and utterly mystified at how they could walk so slowly. When we were in wild country I loved racing to the top of a hill to the check groups passed; though I did have to invest in proper kit for the first time so as not to freeze in damp cotton! The evening campsite camaraderie of staff and students was lovely and I got to know colleagues better too. A particular memory is of accompanying an exploration to the Republic of Ireland and being able to canoe for four days down the River Barrow. We camped by locks each night and I still remember eating some of the most amazing wild salmon on that trip. Not standard DofE fodder - I seem to remember a lot of cereal bars and cupasoup when I did Gold! I now teach in a university, but volunteering to help with expeditions again is something I hope to do once the pandemic is over as I still have full DBS and I know first hand what a difference it can make to young people.