I did not have a brilliant set of A Levels and struggled in my early 20s. Having DofE Gold helped ground me. It reassured me I was not stupid and I did have skills. It taught me resiliance and gave me a sense of Can Do.

The expedition was the most transforming. It taught me a love of exploring the countryside and map reading which I passed onto my children.

I did dog training for my skill. The principles of it have been applied to all future dogs I owned.