30 students were recently invited to receive their Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Gold Award certificates in the magnificent surroundings of Buckingham Palace gardens.  Outdoor instructor and expedition leader Jo Bradshaw began proceedings by telling the guests about her adventures.  She spoke of her most recent challenge ‘The Seven Summits’ which involves climbing the highest mountain on each of the seven continents. Jo has completed five peaks so far and had lots of exciting as well as shocking anecdotes to share.

The students were: Esther Lundie, Rebecca Wiffen, Kamila Wisniewska, Elizabeth Campbell, Francesca Davies, Nicola Lovegrove, Leah Redford, Gemma Callaway, Sam Ashford, Jordan Haslam, Daniel Peers, Benjamin Lovell-Smith, Andreas Panayiotou, Harry Chart, Lucy Mallinder, Elliott Lambert Parsons, Christopher Burland, Hannah Greenhough, David Martin, Samuel Haslam, Alejandro Manalo, Hannah Al-Azzawi, Laura Carlton, Freya Chitty, Reuben Gubb, Emily Milner, Max Attewell, Sophie Ayling, James Forster-Knight and Hannah Priestley.

The group were then introduced to HRH Princess Beatrice of York, who enjoyed hearing about their experiences and achievements as they worked towards their DofE Awards. The morning finished with Jo Bradshaw presenting each student with their certificate.

Well done to everyone, what a fantastic achievement and wonderful way to celebrate.