Fourteen Upper Sixth students and one recent OE attended a Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award presentation in the gardens of Buckingham Palace. The ceremony recognised and celebrated their exceptional achievements in completing this prestigious award.
The event was hosted by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, supported by a number of guest presenters including broadcaster and former-England footballer Alex Scott. Over 2,000 students were invited from all over the country, a number of whom were from schools and youth organisations in Surrey. It was a privilege to have 15 Epsomians at this event, accompanied by their proud parents.
Henry Hampton-Carr, Head of DofE at Epsom, said: “It’s always such a pleasure to attend the Gold Celebration Events at Buckingham Palace. The warm weather was a stark contrast to the rain lots of participants endured on their expeditions and I think this made the event all the sweeter, or perhaps that was the cupcakes! Well done to all those who have completed their Gold for achieving such a prestigious award.”
The Buckingham Palace Gardens were transformed into a festival-style celebration for young people and their loved ones, with giant deckchairs, bunting, garden games and activities. Attendees had the chance to hear from famous DofE Award holders and sporting legends, and pick up career advice from actors, presenters, authors, and campaigners, at stages throughout the gardens.
This morning’s celebration saw The Duke of Edinburgh – who received his own Gold Award from his father Prince Philip at nearby St James’s Palace in 1986 – congratulate attendees in a speech from the Palace’s West Terrace, telling them that they should all be “incredibly proud” and “stand a few inches taller”. The Duke also met Award holders, hearing about the positive impact their DofE has had on them.
Alex Scott then shared the lessons she’d learnt from her own career, telling the pupils: “My story starts with football and the football cage at the end of my street in my council estate. I’m an East London girl through and through – a borough called Tower Hamlets. This football cage was the most unglamorous thing ever. It was a patch of concrete – a wire cage with two goals at either end. I had to fight my brother and his mates for time on the ball, for them to pick me. That cage was my Wembley it’s where my dreams began – and I still get such a smile on my face thinking about it. I played every game for England like I still had something to prove against my brother’s mates in that East London estate.
“Find that space that feels like your own football cage. That’s powerful. Somewhere that feels safe, but gives you the confidence to dream massive. Just like the DofE. That willingness to try, to push yourself, to work as a team while standing tall as an individual. You never know where it might lead – but I promise you, if you keep stepping forwards with that spirit, you’ll end up somewhere amazing. Maybe even somewhere you never thought possible – like me back in Tower Hamlets, dreaming of Wembley.”
The Gold DofE award remains one of the most highly-valued qualifications available to students, made that much more prestigious due to the commitment and determination that it demands. Applications to join the programme are accepted from Lower Sixth pupils each September and it is expected that a significant number of the current Fifth Form will be keen to apply, either as a direct entrant at Gold level, or as one of the pupils that completed their Silver DofE earlier this year.
