Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme is Applauded in Pembrokeshire

An outstanding number of young people in Pembrokeshire have participated over the years in what’s been hailed as one of the Duke of Edinburgh’s greatest legacies – the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

Since 1998, a total of 6,628 young people in the County have achieved Bronze, Silver and Gold awards in the celebrated youth achievement scheme, thanks to it being available in all local secondary schools and four open award centres.

Dave Sommerville has been Pembrokeshire County Council’s Duke of Edinburgh’s Award co-ordinator for more than 20 years. He says Pembrokeshire has traditionally had among the highest number of participants across the whole of Wales.

“Most young people start doing it because of one of the three reasons; it will look good on their CV, their friends are doing it or because their parents want them to,” he said. “But the reason they carry on is because they really enjoy it and get a lot out of it.”

One of the most famous faces to have participated in the scheme in Pembrokeshire is Tori James, the first Welsh woman to climb Mount Everest and a professional adventurer, author and keynote speaker.

“The DofE encourages you to try new things, to set goals and to embrace challenge,” said Tori, who is originally from Clarbeston Road and was a volunteer leader for several years for Pembrokeshire’s DofE scheme after achieving her Gold award.

“I participated in the DofE through Girlguiding in Pembrokeshire and when I completed my Gold Award I was left wanting more. I knew instinctively that I wanted more physical challenges, more team experiences and to pursue things that would provide me with a sense of achievement. The DofE ultimately began my journey to climb Mount Everest.

“The brilliant thing about the DofE is that it helps young people to discover their talents and passions. It shines a spotlight on who they are as an individual and provides them with valuable skills for work and for life.”

Another Pembrokeshire participant who has paid tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh scheme is Nina Bergonzi, a former pupil at Sir Thomas Picton school.

Nina, who completed the Bronze, Silver and Gold DofE Awards as well as training Bronze groups when she was in the sixth form, has a movement disorder called dystonia and so completing the expeditions was a big challenge.

Writing on the Pembrokeshire DofE facebook page, she said: “I always say, there are days I can’t walk and use a wheelchair. But thanks to you and this man’s scheme I’ve climbed a mountain.”

Cllr David Simpson, Leader of Pembrokeshire County Council, is another staunch supporter.

“As an Ambassador for the Scheme in Wales I deeply regret the passing of HRH Prince Philip,” he said.

“I cannot express how grateful I am for the inspiration that he has given to the many hundreds of thousands of young people that have participated in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme.”

Cllr Simpson continued: “Here in Pembrokeshire we have a strong number of participants who have gained from the experience of the Award.

“In the last 23 years, 4,319 young people have achieved their Bronze award, 1,490 have achieved Silver, and 819 have achieved Gold.

“Completing any level of award is a very high achievement, taking a lot of hard work, stamina and commitment. It often proves to be of tremendous value right through that person’s life and I know that many participants, like myself, feel an enormous debt of gratitude to His Royal Highness for such a wonderful scheme.”

The praise for the scheme expressed by so many in recent days, and the Duke of Edinburgh’s passionate involvement in it, has been echoed by Dave Sommerville.

“He was tremendously knowledgeable; he knew the project back to front,” said Dave, who met the Duke of Edinburgh several times when accompanying Gold-award holders and their families to their presentations at St James Palace.

“I always got the feeling that he understood and really cared about it. He was also very good-humoured and engaged in the participants’ experiences. The one question he always asked them was where they did their Gold expedition and he was always interested in their responses, following it up and asking more.”

And he said that although Covid-19 put a stop to overnight camps, such as previous Gold expeditions to the West Highlands and Outer Hebrides, the programme has continued to run during the pandemic.

“We’ve been doing the best we can to keep young people engaged,” he said. “We organised hikes last summer without the overnight camping element which I wasn’t convinced would be a success – but because the young people hadn’t done anything like that for so long they really enjoyed it. We’re looking forward now to being able to arrange more and more as times goes on.”

Pictured above: Haverfordwest High VC School pupils on their hike in Pembrokeshire last year.