I am now in the process of completing my Gold unfortunately put on hold due to covid. I was encouraged initially to take up the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme after hearing so many stories from my mother who achieved her Gold Award in 1980 and was so excited to receive her Award from the Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace and her mother having chance to speak to the Duke. My main achievements has to be completing the Gold Expedition in the Yorkshire Dales having suffered heat in the practice and rain and cold in the real expedition and being chased by angry sheep throughout, I wondered how I ever managed to achieve such a challenge. Other areas that stand out to me are undertaking an English residential course in a Friary and voluntary work as a classroom assistant at a local school and getting to know the young children and their jokes and stories. On the whole I feel so happy that I have managed to achieve so much I just want to now finish the Gold Award which may soon be achieved and join many other Gold Award holders were we all have something in common a sense of achievement, knowing what we have all been through and laughing at our high and low times and the support and friends made along the way.