Student Achieves Gold DofE Award

Congratulations to Natalie who has recently achieved her Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s award, she will now be invited to the palace at some point this year.

Natalie volunteered for 12 months with the Juniors at Hinckley Running Club, as well as helping with the vaccine programme during lockdown, supporting the essential work that they do and giving back to the community.

Physical: She continued to improve her overall fitness and stamina by running for over 6 months, increasing her distance over the time period and taking part in running races.

For her Skill section, Natalie has learnt to drive a car as well as learning the rules of the road.

Residential: maintaining a youth hostel in the New Forest, the 4 night, 5-day experience involved cooking evening meals as a group, firepit cooking and socializing, camping, grounds maintenance and gardening, weeding paths, clearing out cattle grids on site, clearing brambles around the site, housekeeping, bed making, group walks in the New Forest, pumpkin carving and much more. This experience involves meeting the other members in the group for the first time, often stepping out of her comfort zone and working together with people she did not know.

Expedition: Natalie’s was a team of 6 who took on Snowdonia for their walking adventure, they set themselves a challenging route which tested their physical and mental stamina. They coped with and overcame all the challenges to complete a very successful expedition. As the expedition developed they learned the importance of good team work and all grew in maturity. Natalie made an excellent team member. Her team members recognized someone who was helpful and showed concern for her team; she was great to talk to and importantly, a good listener.

In doing so she boosted her team's morale, especially through the difficult times. Congratulations Natalie, well deserved.

“Well Done!” - A very proud DofE team.