I had the honour of being a DofE award leader for a period of time when I was a member of staff in the Air Cadets and seeing cadets begin their progress through the scheme and gain awards was a sense of pride for me. However achieving my own Gold award was a personal achievement I am very proud of. The five colleagues I completed my expedition with are still personal friends and going down to London with three of them to attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace was a highlight of my life I will never forget especially as we saw and spoke with both the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Edward.

Through the scheme I learnt life skills that I use every day. It taught me the skills to work in and to lead a team as well as personal resilience.

Thank you so much Sir for all you have done for me and the many thousands of people like me who have benefited from the scheme.