So I was one of the crazy ones who decided she didn’t want to faff about and went straight for Gold without ever even having camped before! Doing DofE taught me so much from learning new skills such as canoeing to teamwork and resilience. My favourite part, like most, was the expedition which was an incredible experience canoeing from Loch Tay to Perth and wild camping. At the time I thought oh god, what have I signed up for whilst capsizing and breaking my canoe and loosing my paddle, knowing that dinner was going to be a concoction of rice with beans. At the end of it all I was lucky enough to actually meet HRH Prince Philip at the Gold Award ceremony at St James’ Palace. He was genuinely interested in what my group and I had done whilst cracking a few jokes. Now more than 10 years on I am grateful for the experience I had and would recommend to any young person that they sign up, to give back to the community whilst also giving you the tools to learn so many new things. Thank you so much for everything the programme has given me, Rest in Peace.