In 1977, at the age of 17 the school I attended did not promote the DOE Award, yet the school which my younger sister of 13 months attended, did. She had done both her Bronze and Silver and had started to work towards her Gold. I knew how much she enjoyed it, and benefited from it. So I joined the local Youth Club, at Castlefields, Runcorn, who at the time was run by the enthusiastic husband and wife team, Karen and Ken Tonge. I learnt that with extra effort and time I could do a straight Gold. Not wanting to be 'oudone' by my younger sibling, I achieved the Gold Award within the same time schedule as she did. This meant that a very excited and proud parents, mum and dad could attend the Palace with us together to be our guests to witness us both receiving our awards from the Duke.
We travelled to London by train with our co-recipients and guests, and had the most wonderful day. From our Cheshire region we all stood in the main hall, in a semi-circle, and as the Duke approached our group, he made a 'bee-line for both my sister and myself, and asked who was the eldest, and then made the comment that it had taken my younger sister to 'show me the way'. Somebody had been doing their homework. Both my parents were observing this, and I know that they were both so, so proud. A day to remember. Sadly Dad passed away 18 months later, but whenever he had the opportunity when speaking with anyone, would always mention that his two daughters both had the DOE Gold Award.

This is something I will always cherish, even though it was 41 years ago, and I still proudly have my Gold Badge and my little gold record book.

RIP The Duke of Edinburgh, you and your scheme have impacted in the most positive way on so many young peoples lives, and long may it continue to do so.