Gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards

Four current Concord students and four recent leavers were honoured to attend a garden party in the grounds of Buckingham Palace in London to receive their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

Gold awards are an incredible achievement, requiring sustained effort and dedication and are highly valued. Gold award holders must have undertaken 12 months of weekly volunteering, and 12 months of a physical or skill activity (with 6 months of the other section) as well as completing an expedition in wild country.

Current students Paulette, Anders, Aimee and Aryan completed their final expedition last summer in Scotland, canoeing and wild camping of Loch Shiel.

Anna, Wenxiu, Eben and Penri, all alumni, completed their expedition and DofE a few years ago but have been waiting for Gold Award Presentations to resume after covid to receive their awards. They canoed down the river Spey in Scotland for their Gold expeditions.

Mr Weaver and Mrs Newton-Badman accompanied the Concord students to the Palace and were pleased to be able to share in their celebration. Mr Weaver said “It was lovely to be able to attend the Award presentation at Buckingham Palace on Friday as Anna’s guest.”

“The Band of the Royal Marines and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst were playing. Tea and cake were consumed. The Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Edward) spoke from the terrace, describing some of his experiences when he completed the award in his youth and then mingled with the Award holders to hear some of their stories. There was also the opportunity to explore the gardens (the largest private garden in London) which is an interesting mixture of formal plantings and wilder areas that support quite a range of wildlife.”