My memories of the DofE Award are from participating whilst a member of the Army Cadet Force in the late 1970s. I worked my way through bronze, and then onto silver, which I found was a bit harder, and finally on to my gold award, which was quite hard going, especially the expedition on Dartmoor, where we appeared to have all four seasons of weather in as many days.

We survived it and went on to complete the award and were rewarded with the Gold Award presentation at Buckingham Palace, a truly wonderful experience, especially for a young 18-year-old lad!

I am now helping our local school with their DofE, having recently qualified as an Expedition Assessor, and I always encourage young people to participate in the award scheme, both my children have done so.