Today’s funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh led me to remember my own experience of his legacy to us: the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. This award affects, and still affects, those in secondary school, and can teach them to be stronger and more resilient people. Thank you Prince Phillip, for changing young people’s lives.

At the start of Year 9, I signed up for the Bronze DofE Award, offered as an extra activity at my school. To complete it, the requirement was to complete a Physical, a Skills and a Volunteering section (spending 3 months on two of these sections and 6 months on one of the sections), and to finish it off  with a 2 day expedition. For each activity, the person in charge of that activity would write a summary of my performance in that section, for example how well I did or how much effort I put in.

When I began the Bronze DofE, I was fortunate enough to have on-going Physical and Skills activities, leaving me to only worry about the volunteering section. Being a member of the football B team, my coach was happy to assess my physical section. Throughout this time, not only did I improve in my skills and fitness, but I made bonds and friendships with my teammates, showing that when others do this as well, they would know about companionship and about teamwork.

For my skill section, it was easy for me to complete as I had been playing the piano since the beginning of primary school, and so my piano teacher had no problem writing the report. Piano, for me, led me to improve on my coordination, technique and control.

For the Volunteering section, I found out that the chess teacher of my school, Dr Cooper, was opening a new chess club for juniors, and needed helpers to manage it. This was very fortunate for me, as it was 10 times more interesting than what I was going for, arranging books in the local library. The Volunteering section helped me gain pride in what I was doing, and felt happy that I was helping people out.

Unfortunately, my school felt the DofE expeditions would not go ahead this year due to the government’s guidelines regarding residential trips during this pandemic. However, the Duke of Edinburgh certificates (bronze, silver, and gold) were still issued to those who completed all three of the sections, Skill, Volunteering and Physical sections. Although this ‘Certificate of Achievement’ is equal to the actual bronze award, it felt easier and less tiring than what it should be.

It has been said the DofE Award is likely to be one of Prince Philip’s greatest legacies. His response: “Legacy? ….It’s got nothing to do with me. It’s there for people to use. I couldn’t care less.” Thank you, Prince Phillip, for I, for one, will use it to the fullest, and “get on with it.” (“it” being the Duke of Edinburgh’s Silver Award!)