I have 2 relationships with DofE. Firstly as a participant, I achieved my gold award and still to this day it is one of my proudest achievements. Some of my best friends I met through DofE and one of them will be my bridesmaid in July when I get married. When I started my first teaching role I was asked to get Involved with the DofE programme at the school. Within months I had taken over running it and made it one of the most successful DofE programmes in the region. I loved taking students on the expeditions and seeing them have opportunities that they never had before. The sad news over the last few days has reminded me how much I love it and encouraged me to do more to be involved again.