I completed my Bronze award in the mid 1980s, and remember walking miles in the rain and mud in white Adidas trainers that would be considered trendy now but were not suitable for the job in hand back then . My skill was First Aid, lots of laughs were had trying to apply bandages to each other, mainly unsuccessfully. As my sporting activity was archery, the First Aid came in handy.

When my son had the chance to do his Bronze award 2 years ago, I knew I had to persuade him to take this great opportunity, so I told him it would be like an outdoor sleepover. He set off on his expedition with a pot noodle stuffed in each end of his foam mat, and requested some cash in case they came across a restaurant! Had to explain that would not be allowed.

He struggled to think what to do for the volunteering and ended up doing a Sports Leadership programme running events for local primary school children, which it's fair to say pushed him out of his comfort zone by quite some way. However, he improved and succeeded, learning valuable new skills on the way.

His skill was Cookery, which he very much enjoyed, so much so that he is going to college in the Autumn to study to become a chef. The interviewer said he was very impressed that my son had achieved his Bronze Award.

I am so proud of us achieving our Awards, it's given us important skills, confidence and challenges. I wish I had done my Silver and Gold Awards (I expect I am too old now!). What an amazing experience for us and all DofE participants, and what an amazing legacy of the Duke of Edinburgh to leave behind him.