A funny story comes to mind when I think of my time completing the Duke of Edinburgh award. It was the second day of my gold expedition and only around 35/100 km walked. I started to get very bad chafe at the top of my legs, which throughout the day become unbearable. To make matters worse I had packed the wrong shorts which were a couple of sizes too small meaning I had no alternative clothing.

My team did not have any Vaseline which meant all I had to sooth the pain was a lip salve. I attempted to apply the lip salve to the area without much real success being achieved.

I had made the decision that I could not go on in my trousers, turned to my assessor who had met us at a trig point and jokingly asked if I could just walk in my boxers to which she replied “you can walk in a dress so long as you finish”, which was met with a laugh from the rest of my team. For the rest of the day I walked with just my underwear on my bottom half - very freeing indeed!

Prince Philip’s Duke of Edinburgh Award not only taught me resilience and to keep going when times got tough but to have fun with friends, love the natural world in which we live and has given me a brilliant story which is always met with a chuckle. RIP Sir and thank you!