Firstly I was to pay tribute to the thousands of school staff & others who give up their free time to help students from all backgrounds & abilities complete the awards. I have helped run some of the activities that students come to to complete part of their awards, The ongoing care & support that staff show to each & every student is amazing.

I undertook my gold D of E around 1980. I am still in contact with the people I did it with. We really enjoyed our expedition on Dartmoor - On expedition we surveyed the East Dart from its source to Dartmeet. It was very early days to look at pollution in rivers. As part of our report, I wrote to companies who discharged water into the dart along it's entire length. - getting some rather terse replies as I remember. We also dipped the river at various points lower down, looking for invertebrates to work out if it was polluted or not. - Looking back this wasn't done in a particularly scientific manner. I now help run river studies field trips for GCSE students.