Through the DofE, I learned the importance and satisfaction of service to others, and that the possibility of something else was available to a poor girl from a deprived background on Merseyside as I was back then. I remember, with a friend, getting lost in the mist on a mountain in Scotland during our gold award camp with the Army, and being able to get down safely, albeit on the wrong side of the mountain.
The joint elements of service and travel have stayed with me, and after an international civil service career, including managing humanitarian aid programmes in 20 African countries for more than a decade, now retired and 9 languages later, I am closely involved as a volunteer in food assistance projects in Brussels, whilst also participating in election observation missions all over the world.
I was honoured to receive my award from HRH Prince Philip himself at Buckingham Palace in 1974, an event still discussed by my family- no later than this morning! This was an unimaginable event for someone of my background, and it helped me believe in myself.