I did my DofE through an open award group in Birmingham. My time doing Bronze, Silver and Gold DofE are some of the most memorable of my life. The skills I gained and memories I made will be with me for the rest of my life. I gained so much more than the sense of achievement that you get when you complete each stage. I gained confidence, made a lifelong friend and discovered how to push myself into things I wouldn't have thought to do before. I really enjoyed the expedition part, walking in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District for my Gold. My residential was spent doing conservation work at a historic property and was hard work, but lots of fun. I learnt how to canoe, which was one of the best experiences of all. We had so many laughs in our group. We wrote and performed a pantomime, which was fantastic fun, even getting parents involved, which they loved too, creating friendships there as well. We got involved with so many other things too, such as 5-a-side football tournaments, night hikes (my group won one year) and raft races on the River Severn (hilarious).

Being able to go to St James's Palace to received my Gold award was such a great moment. I felt so proud that my mum was watching and sharing the experience with me. It is something that you really don't forget.

I feel privileged that I was able to go on to run groups and pass that love and passion for the award on to other young people and see the benefits and sense of achievement that it brought to them. It has been great to see that the award has continued to go from strength to strength and has adapted and changed with the times. Long may it continue!