I just turned 70 and I am living in Anchorage Alaska, so I am a long way in space and time from my days of DofE participation at the Chesterfield Boys Grammar school. We were led by an ex-military officer who set a brisk pace for achieving the four requirements necessary to medal each year. Through the DofE I learned many skills - planning, provisioning, camping, rudimentary cooking, map reading, first aid, the value of volunteering and working as a team and much more. The DofE requirements fell in line with some of my interests – cycling, youth hosteling and experiencing adventures, however there was plenty to do each year and some requirements were not easy. I vividly remember the 4-day Gold level camping trip in the Kinder Scout, Edale area. The weather was good to start but deteriorated to fog and rain. A low point came when we got lost in the fog and were using map and compass navigation. I was in the back with the compass trying to maintain an accurate heading with everyone in a line ahead. When we ran straight into a trig point, everyone, except me, thought I had performed a navigational miracle, that bumped up team morale, a little bit of sun and a shared Mars bar helped give us the strength to laugh and move on.
In 1969 I received my Gold award from Prince Phillip at Buckingham Place and my DofE days slipped from memory.
In 2017 my mother died and we laid her ashes in the Wye River in Monsal Dale. As the family gathered, I noticed a group of young ladies on what appeared to be a camping trip with ordnance survey maps and compasses in hand. I spoke to the leader and confirmed what I suspected; these were DofEers on their camping assignment. This caused a flood of dusty memories. Later on, I reflected on the value that the DofE program provided me all those years before – a structured way to learn the basic tools of life while gaining confidence and the ability to push on in difficult circumstances while experiencing adventures – Peter.