Duke of Edinburgh praises pupils who braved expedition during Storm Amy

The Duke of Edinburgh was “impressed” by Welsh pupils who completed an expedition during Storm Amy.

Edward met young people from across Wales during a visit to Cardiff and asked them about their activities as part of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE).

The award was founded by the late Prince Philip in 1956, and to achieve a gold award young people must complete physical, skills, volunteering and expedition sections, as well as a residential.

The duke spoke to pupils from the Pen y Dre High School in Merthyr Tydfil, who told him they had pushed ahead with their expedition despite severe weather conditions.

Maria Tandy, the DofE lead at the school, said: “We just did (the silver award) in October in the Lake District during Storm Amy.

“I think he was quite impressed by that, you know, made a few jokes.

“Our campsite cancelled on us because it flooded and they said to us, well, we assumed you wouldn’t do it, because every other school has cancelled.

“And I kind of made a joke to him, like, they don’t know where we’re from, we are hardcore.

“He quite enjoyed that.”

The duke told the pupils: “It was an adventure that you will remember.”

Edward began his visit at the Welsh Parliament, where he spoke to DofE youth ambassadors and tried out volunteering activities.

The duke then visited the Pierhead, before ending his trip at the Urdd Cardiff Residential Centre, where he met young people learning first aid and practising orienteering skills for their DofE expedition.

Elena Velichkova, a DofE youth ambassador, said: “I had a really nice time talking to (the duke), it was exciting, him being interested about our own individual experiences and how that’s made an impact on us.

“I would definitely say it was an amazing experience.”

Tabitha Myatt, also a DofE youth ambassador, said: “After lockdown, I found it very difficult to get from such a confined environment to then go outdoors, and to experience all of that (in the DofE Award) was amazing.

“And then being able to talk to other people, like-minded, talk to business partners, really advocate for yourself as well as the DofE, is really extraordinary.

“Meeting the duke himself just put it all together, really, he was really down to earth.”

More than 9,700 young people started their DofE in Wales last year, giving more than 133,000 hours of volunteering in their communities.

Ruth Marvel, chief executive of the DofE Award, said: “This is such a brilliant opportunity to showcase both the diversity of young people who are involved in DofE and… the really wide range of different things that young people are doing under the banner of DofE.

“We’ve had young people here from community groups, from Welsh language schools, from pupil referral units, young people with special educational needs, all congregating in the Senedd.

“It’s a really lovely day to shine a light on how important these kinds of opportunities are for young people’s development.”