I have lovely memories of the work I undertook throughout the 4 years it took for me to achieve my bronze, silver and gold D of E awards. There were organised and self organised expeditions to the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales; Care of animals courses, where I did some voluntary work with a local vet; voluntary work in the gardens at Cragside House in Northumberland; groundworks in a local woodland on a Sunday morning, in all weathers; assisting at Skylarks, The Winged Fellowship Trust holiday home in Nottingham with some wonderful, less able adults; physical activity challenges in the gym at Blackburn Tech., the highlight of which was getting to meet The Duke of Edinburgh at Edgehill College, Ormskirk. I was demonstrating sit-ups and had been doing so for at least 15 minutes, as he meandered through the gymnasium. He stood by me and asked “how many of those can you do?” to which I responded “not many more”! He was amused!

In June 1982 I was very lucky to go to Buckingham Palace to receive my gold award from the Duke - a marvellous finale to the work I had put into it! It was my first visit to London and my mum was thrilled to be able to come with me.

Many wonderful memories. A wonderful Duke. A wonderful legacy.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity which helped to shape the independent person I am today.