I had such a blast doing my DofE awards and I grew so much as a person from starting my Bronze award to completing my Gold award. Receiving my completed award at St. James' Palace was a real honour and it was great to meet so many others who have given the adventure a go.

There are so many memories but the event that will stay with me was my Gold expedition in the stunning Brecon Beacons National Park searching for every point of interest we could find - waterfalls, plane crash, abandoned railways you name it. The team were awesome and gave it their all through sunshine and rain (oh boy was there rain), hail and wind making it both tougher but also rewarding to reach the end. I still see some of them each year at the Scouts' Gilwell Reunion and say hi, remembering the days we walked together along the mighty ridge of mountains, through the sun one day and the driving rain the next and finally reaching the high at Pen y Fan on the last day.

It's done more for me than I can say. Thanks you DofE and thank you to HRH Prince Philip for starting it all.