Awards for city students

The eight students, from four different school across the city, attended a presentation at St James’s Palace in London to share their experiences with the Earl, who is Trustee for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

During the presentation, HRH took the opportunity to congratulate each member of the group - made up of participants from Birkdale, High Storrs, Notre Dame and Silverdale Schools - on their successes and heard about each of 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.

Jules Walker, of Sheffield Futures DofE Operating Authority, said: “It was a privilege to be a part of the young people’s Gold Award ceremony and listen to so many positive comments about the impact the DofE Programme has had for the participants. Many spoke about the confidence taking part had instilled in them and the satisfaction they gained from taking on new challenges. There is a great deal of hard work associated with achieving a Gold DofE Award but the rewards in terms of self development and community impact cannot be understated.”

Gold award holder John McDowell said: “I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of undertaking my Gold DofE Award with my friends and have found the skills I developed in terms of planning and structure have helped me to progress in my engineering ambitions. I’d recommend anyone with the opportunity to participate in the DofE Programme”