THREE young people from the 25th Stirling Company (Dunblane), The Boys’ Brigade, have been presented with Gold Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Award certificates at a special ceremony at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh last week.

HRH Prince Edward, The Earl of Wessex, gave the Royal seal of approval to Iain Davies, Cameron McEwan and Liam McGregor as he spoke to them ahead of the awards’ ceremony.

Geoff Alan, author of The Scottish Bothy Bible presented their certificates.

The young men undertook a variety of challenges to achieve their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award including, a four-day, three night expedition, at least six months volunteering within the community, and participate in a five-day residential. 

Iain Davies of 25th Stirling, said: “I enjoyed the residential section the most because I got to meet lots of new people and do something I enjoyed for a week.

“The experience has benefitted me greatly.  I have developed variety of skills, not least in Spanish and working with children.”

John Sharp, director of The Boys’ Brigade in Scotland said: “I am exceptionally proud of these young people and everything they have achieved to complete their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Awards.

"It’s not an easy feat to undertake so many tasks, but in doing so, the DofE programmes help develop key skills for life, such as confidence, commitment and team working.

“This award aligns itself very well with youth work and I hope that we can offer even more young people the chance to achieve it - and in doing so – they can gain in confidence and make a difference to their local communities.”

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) is the world’s leading youth achievement award that develops over 400,000 young people for life and work every year in the UK.

Founded by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in 1956, The Boys’ Brigade was one of the first youth organisations to offer the DofE alongside its own award scheme. 

This year a total 147 BB young people have participated in the award.