People should get on with it.......

My lonesome voice in this week's print edition of the Herald Express

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award really shaped my teenage years. I found myself captivated by the range of activities and the challenge. My little green record book, which I still have, was issued on the 10th September 1962! Flicking through the battered pages is like a trip down memory lane! 

At the time, the DofE Award was an alternative to the many uninformed youth organisations that dominated the post-war years and it certainly fired up the imagination of many young people at the time.

I’ve rather kept the faith with the DofE for over fifty years; starting out as a participant, then becoming a leader before eventually chairing the Torbay committee.

The recent death of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh is a sadness and yet also a time to celebrate his amazing energy. I remember attending an event in London with my wife some years ago and we spent a little time in conversation with him.

I recall Lyndy turning to me afterwards and said “How on earth does he do it?” He was clearly unwell on the day and lesser souls would have been tucked up in bed. Prince Philip has always suggested that people should get on with it and that is exactly what he was doing.

Although one of the aims of the Award was to get those not in uniform organisations out and about, I was a Queen’s Scout and the DofE added another sparkling badge to my uniform. When I went to Buckingham Palace to get the Gold, I was wearing my scout uniform and sprouting a rather fine beard.

Prince Philip is famous for his comments and looking at my beard, as I collected my certificate, he quipped “With a beard like that I think you ought to join the Royal Navy after leaving here!”

I didn’t take his advice.

Years later I was at St James Palace with a few people from South Devon College. At the time I was working as part-time lecturer and helped get the Duke of Edinburgh Award re-introduced at the college.

On that day I was helping to marshal award recipients and introduce some of my group to His Royal Highness. He asked me whether I had young people there and I had to say that we had only recently resurrected the DofE at South Devon College.

I did say that we were particularly pleased with the little group of apprentice plumbers who had just gained a Bronze award. It was a rainy day and in true Prince Philip tradition he said, “It’s a shame you didn’t bring them today, this place is leaking like a sieve!”

My contact with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is limited these days. I have become something of an anachronism and the more corporate structure doesn’t really light my fire. I come from a time of wild camping and backwoods cooking.

The more structured approach is, I think, good. That is confirmed by the huge number of young people participating. In an increasingly challenging world, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award encourages people to help others, to walk in the wild, to follow an interest over a period of time and to keep fit.

I have no doubt that His Royal Highness The Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh will be remembered with affection by many and will become one of the great historical figures.

He always seemed to keep the smile!