Had a great time but all the expeditions were all challenging....learning to work as a team with people who were not always enthusiastic about carrying a heavy pack in the rain. 4 days of pouring rain and walking through bogs on Skye for the gold award meant the skin on our feet came away!!

The volunteering I undertook for gold was in the local country park where I helped the ranger every weekend and learnt lots of skills, such as fencing, tree planting, litter picking, dry stone walking, helping visitors, monitoring numbers, wildlife management...I loved this placement and decided I wanted to work outside too. I followed this with a degree in environmental sciences and a career in outdoor education. Still enjoying the outdoors 40 years later!