At school we had to do CCF for two years. After that a handful of people could do D of E instead. I wanted something new so I joined D of E and got my Gold Award. At university I joined the D of E Society for the social life and I ended up co-running it with a wonderful girl called Sara Profitt, and that got me into contact with the guy who ran D of E for Coventry City Council - the absolutely legendary Vic Taylor. Vic got me into helping out with D of E trips for local school children, and then I ended up volunteering with him and Paul at a company called Learning Through Adventure, based out of Cheylesmore Community Centre, Coventry. Vic ran mountaineering trips for his leaders, so I went on some of those, and then I went on a World Challenge trip to Venezuela, run by the then Captain David Hook (who went on to command the Royal Marines) and making a lifelong friend out of Tamsin Addison. When I went for my first interview as a teacher, the Head asked me - 'If I give you the job, will you set up D of E in this school?' I did, and I ran D of E at that school and a school I went on to work at for a combined total of 12 years and over 50 expeditions. A young family brought that part of my life to a close, but I still help out on expeditions, and I think of my time running D of E as really having the biggest effect on the most young people, in my 22 years of teaching, and bringing me the most job satisfaction. Many of my very best friendships have been formed through D of E, as well as to a very high degree the person who I think I am. I also believe very strongly in conservation and am looking as I write at a shield given to me by WWF for the work I did raising money for them when I was at school. When Her Majesty the Queen talks about a debt owed to HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, mine is more than I could ever pay.