I completed my Bronze, Silver and Gold D of E whilst at Wisbech Grammar School in Cambridgeshire the 90’s. I loved completing them all and was very proud when I went to St Jame’s Palace with my father to be presented with my Gold Award by the famous cricket umpire, Dicky Bird. My favourite memories are the sole of my boot falling off as we approached the mini bus at the end of our final Gold expedition in the Brecon Beacons, learning very quickly how to cope with a crisis when one our our group collapsed on our Silver expedition- my friend and I ran 3 miles to the nearest village to get help (no mobile phones those days!), meeting life long friends on my gold residential week in Sussex and being nearly eaten alive by midges on a Gold practice expedition somewhere in the Lake District. I learnt to play the flute for my Silver Skill although as it turns out I wasn’t terribly skilled at it, scraping a pass by one mark in my Grade one exam! For my service, I joined an organisation called the Leo’s (the junior branch of Lions International) who do charity and fundraising work for local and international projects. I subsequently spent 7 years with the Leo’s, and was club president for several years and made some brilliant friends along the way- I would not have had this invaluable teamwork and leadership opportunity without the push from D of E and it helped shape who I am today. Along with being a teacher in a busy boarding school, I’m also a mum to two children and our 14 year old son has just completed his Bronze award and is working towards his Silver award. He has been lucky to be able to learn to kayak and canoe as part of his journey and is now deciding wether to walk or canoe his silver expeditions. Our daughter, who is 12, is desperate to start hers!
I feel very lucky to have been able to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s award and hope it continues to have such a positive effect on as many young people as it can.