Last week, five students from Derby Grammar School attended a presentation at Buckingham Palace, where they received their Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards from celebrity presenter Peter Andre, after sharing their experiences with Trustee for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE), HRH The Earl of Wessex.
During the Gold Award Presentation, HRH congratulated the group from Derby Grammar School 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.
Paul Hilliam, who is the DofE Manager at Derby Grammar School, said: “We are delighted that our sixth formers Billy, Freya and Elliot, along with Old Derbeians Joseph and Isaac, were able to collect their awards at such a prestigious ceremony. Anybody who gains a Gold Award deserves significant recognition for demonstrating enormous determination and commitment – it can’t get better than a trip to Buckingham Palace!”
Speaking about his DofE experience, Elliot Butterworth, who was one of the Gold Award holders at last week’s presentation, said: “It was a really lovely day. The ceremony felt really intimate and special, which is quite impressive when there were so many people there.”
