Over 700 young people from across Scotland attended presentations at Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh this week, where they received their Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards after sharing their experiences with Patron of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE), HRH The Duke of Edinburgh or Trustee for The DofE, HRH The Earl of Wessex.
During the Gold Award Presentations, Their Royal Highnesses took the opportunity to congratulate the young people on their successes and heard about their DofE journeys, which took each young person 12-18 months of hard work and dedication.
Those who achieve a Gold DofE Award will volunteer, learn a skill, get fit, take part in a week long residential and plan and undertake an expedition in wild country. Widely acknowledged as the world’s leading achievement award for young people, DofE programmes enable any young person, aged 14-24, to develop key skills for life and work, such as confidence, commitment and team working.
Speaking about his DofE experience, former ScotRail Modern Apprentice Jordan Bingham, who was one of the Gold Award holders at the presentation on the 5th July, said, “The DofE was an extremely challenging part of my apprenticeship but very worthwhile. I learnt about the importance of teamwork, and communication. Being given the opportunity has allowed me to gain confidence and shown me that anything is possible when you try hard enough”.
DofE Director for Scotland, Barry Fisher, said: “I am delighted that so many young people from across Scotland were able to celebrate their achievements at this week’s presentations. They have shown remarkable commitment and determination in completing their Gold DofE Awards and these presentations are an excellent opportunity to celebrate their success.”
There are currently over 20,000 young people taking part in a DofE programme across Scotland through a variety of centres including both state and independent schools, special schools, businesses, prisons, young offender institutions and youth groups.
To find out more about the DofE and how it enables young people to succeed, please visit www.DofE.org
