Starting my DofE journey aged 13 taught me a multitude of skills that I continue to use to this day. day. Learning the importance of emotional aspects of DofE like maintaining respect for one another in challenging situations and how very hard this can be showed me how supporting friends during new, testing situations is of the upmost importance. The Duke of Edinburgh’s award scheme enabled me to travel to several national parks and realise the beauty of the British countryside, only increasing my passion for wildlife conservation and protection of rural spaces from modern day pollutants like fossil fuels or plastic. Over two years I have walked in Llangollen, the Long Mynd and Derbyshire’s Peak District and am planning to complete my gold expedition in Snowdonia later this year.

Usually, I would consider myself to shy and reserved however on my silver DofE expedition I found enjoyment in guiding my team. Being the only strong map reader in my group of 7 allowed me to undertake a position of leadership and encouraged me to learn new skills like how to use a compass to accompany standard map reading. Finding a location on an OS map also increased my awareness and instilled vital observation skills into my mentality. Another ability I soon realised the importance of was that of resilience: trying to maintain some form of morale whilst freezing cold and walking in torrential rain is one of the hardest situations I have had to deal with.

At the end of my silver expedition in 2019, one of my proudest moments was to be noted by the assessor as a natural leader, showing me that I can endure a variety of situations and overall should be more confident in my own abilities.

Picture: My group at Carsington Water having just finished our DofE Silver qualifying expedition in the Peak District, I am sat directly in the middle.