I gained by Gold DOE award and received it at a presentation at Buckingham Palace attended by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1981. My mother attended the ceremony with me and was thrilled to be able to go in the Palace.
I believe the skills I learned while working towards the award helped to shape me and have been used in my profession as a teacher and now a head teacher.
It was good to learn new skills and work with a range of other young people.
I enjoyed undertaking voluntary work in old people's homes and hospitals. I always had a love for sporting activities and used the award to try and experience new sports, one I remember was trampolining The expeditions were real high points planning and being self sufficient. I have great memories of a cycling expedition around the Isle of Wight and camping in a farmer's field. I had no idea how hilly the Isle Wight is until we had to cycle!
I was invited by Essex Council to take part in a trip to Italy with other award winners to talk about our experiences and take part in a mountain range expeditions. This was a real honour to be selected but also the new friendships that were made, sleeping in mountain top hostels.
I feel privileged that I was able to take part in this award scheme as I came from a working class background and would not have had the opportunities I was given. I am grateful to the Girls Brigade for the leaders who supported through the awards and the training they provided. For a while I was an officer in Girls Brigade and supported other young people to gain the award.