I am a Silver and Gold Award holder (1983). DofE was fundamental in giving me confidence, leadership skills and resilience - no other activity during my time at school had such an impact as DofE.

We experienced it all - wet training weekends in the Lakes and North Wales to all night sunshine for our Silver Expedition in the Cairngorms and snow for our Gold Expedition in the Torridon area in North West Scotland - places that are deemed to risky these days. I learnt to touch type as my skill (with no foresight that keyboard skills would be useful!), volunteered at a local primary school one afternoon a week for two years and helped repaint the windows in the Youth Hostel in Edale for my residential project.

I then went on to be an assessor for the next year's participants before I finished school.

I have also been lucky to support the scheme in recent years as my husband ran the Bronze Award for the City of London School - it was great being able to help out again.

I was extremely proud to be in involved in DofE- particularly as my mother was also a Gold Award holder - and it is believed that we were one of the first mother / daughter combinations to get Gold.

RIP Your Royal Highness, we are all indebted to your vision in setting up the scheme.