Participating in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme ran parallel with my youth from the age of 13 until I collected my Gold Award at St James Palace and met the Duke, at aged 22. I can’t imagine growing up without the Award, the challenges and opportunities that the Award opened my eyes to - the lessons learnt, the teamwork shared, the ‘I can do’ attitude that the opportunities instilled in me. Despite a life of many travels since, the 5 day expedition in the snowy hills of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada aged 17, is by far my most cherished travel memory. Defrosting tents at dawn, hiking in bear country, swimming in icy blue mountain lakes, supporting under privileged children in a residential kids camp in the heart of B.C and singing camp fire songs and watching their troubles melt away. Those experiences forged me over a decade of my youth. Meeting the Duke at St James Palace in 1992 collecting my gold Award, the Duke asked our group if anyone had travelled abroad during their Award and I volunteered my experiences. The Duke must have asked the same question hundreds of times but in that moment, that one to one conversation with me - he was enthusiastic and listened to my experiences with focused interest. That takes a special quality. I have uploaded a cherished photo of our expedition, 1987, a Devon/British Columbia exchange programme, a group of 17 year old ‘80s’ kids, in the snowy mountains of Vancouver Island - we all felt on the top of the world... and indeed we were. Thirty years later, I found joy again at watching my 14 year old daughter ‘yomp’ off with rucksack, walking boots and compass in hand on her expedition ...hearing the group of girls singing and laughing as they set off. There would be blisters, burnt porridge, collapsed tents and little sleep no doubt (plus a few ‘wrong way walking’) but they would learn, support each other and achieve. Long may this amazing Award continue under the name of the Duke of Edinburgh.