Achieving my Gold DofE award back in 2019 has been of the highlights of my life so far. It has shaped who I am today, through my new passion for hillwalking and Munro bagging, as well as my career, becoming a physiotherapist, hoping to work in elderly care. DofE gave me the opportunity to spend 3 years volunteering in a local centre which supported local people suffering from Dementia. I started out initially helping serve at the weekly coffee mornings, but by the time I reached Gold level, I was regularly talking and engaging with the service users and clients. This hugely impacted my choice of career as it gave me fantastic opportunities to build my communication skills as well as people skills; which are crucial for being a physiotherapist.

Since beginning the expeditions and the practice skill sessions in the lead up, I have found a new passion in the outdoors and hill walking. I am fortunate to live in the North East of Scotland, so we have the beautiful Cairngorm mountain range on our doorstep. This meant our routes for our walks were in fantastic locations with incredible views. I also had the privilege of canoeing a large part of the Great Glen for my Silver Award, which was a new hobby which I still enjoy!

As a fantastic celebration of the achievement of my Gold Award, I was able to receive my award at Buckingham Palace and was congratulated from The Earl of Wessex. This was the true icing on the cake, to celebrate a wonderful achievement and 3 years of hard work and superb volunteering.

I am grateful to the Duke of Edinburgh for starting up this incredible opportunity.