I attended Wandsworth Comprehensive School where a group of teachers encouraged us to do the DofE award and they gave up huge amounts of time including weekends when we did expeditions. They allowed us to take risks, make map reading mistakes but tracked us somehow - before mobiles existed. If the Welsh weather was particularly foul we were taken to a pub to warm up with a drink, before leaving us back at our camp.

I met HRH twice. Once when lots of us presented our projects, I had built a wooden canoe and he asked if it had been in the water, I said no as I had just varnished it and he said he hoped it wouldn’t sink!. The second was to get the award at Buckingham Palace. My parents came with me and were so proud.

The DofE experience gave me more confidence to tackle problems, made some life long friends, enjoy being part of a team, plus a love of travel and the outdoors.