SOME 248 young people from across East Hampshire flocked to The Petersfield School to receive their Duke of Edinburgh’s (DofE) Awards.

The DofE Awards is the world’s leading achievement award scheme for young people, with a mission “to inspire, guide and support young people in their self-development and recognise their achievements”.

Guest of honour at East Hampshire’s most recent presentation evening was Tess Burrows, an adventurer, author and campaigner who has climbed to the farthest point from the centre of the earth – Mount Chimborazo in the Ecuadorian Andes at 6,263m – as well as walking 300 miles to the South Pole.

Other invited guests at the November 15 ceremony included East Hampshire District Council chairman Lynne Evans, Petersfield mayor Jamie Matthews, Whitehill mayor Colin Leach, DofE leaders, parents and supporters of the young people.

Music was provided by the Jazz Band of The Petersfield School, and the proceedings began with a few words from Mark Marande, principal of The Petersfield School.

Tess Burrows then presented certificates to the many award achievers with obvious pleasure, listening attentively as details of their individual DofE programmes were read out.

During the evening, students from Treloar College in Holybourne, near Alton, played a video showing their expedition on the Solent in a specially adapted sea-going catamaran, TPS?student Ben Coles performed an Arctic Monkeys number, and pictures from a kayaking expedition on the River Thames were shown.

Everyone doing DofE has to take up a skill, undertaken a physical activity, and spent time as a volunteer.

A wide range of skills were chosen, including – as well as the more usual skills of art and music – subjects as diverse as shooting, acting, bell-ringing, cooking, photography and embroidery, while physical achievements covered almost all available sports.

And whether they volunteered by coaching youngsters in a sport, acted as a young leader in a uniformed youth organisation, worked in a crèche, assisted in a hospice, helped in church, raised money for charity or worked as a conservation volunteer, every one of them had put significant amounts of time and effort into making their community a better place.

Expeditions are perhaps the best-enjoyed part of DofE, involving travel in unfamiliar terrain.

Bronze expeditions are normally fairly close to home, in the South Downs, the Isle of Wight or the New Forest for example. At silver and gold level, groups may travel further afield, to more demanding environments such as The Quantocks, Exmoor, Dartmoor, The Shropshire Hills, the Peak District, Yorkshire Dales, the Lake District, Wales and Scotland. There is a further residential section at gold level, which can take participants to far-flung and unusual places.

On Wednesday, 205 youngsters stepped up to receive their bronze DofE awards, gained since March, alongside 35 silver and eight gold award achievers. Additionally, a large number of young people had qualified through Bohunt School at Liphook, Churcher’s College (Petersfield) and Lord Wandsworth College (Long Sutton, near Alton), each of which organises its own independent presentations.

David Allan, chairman of DofE in East Hampshire, said: “The achievement of a gold award is formally recognised at a reception at one of the royal palaces, when the Earl of Wessex usually presents the certificates.”

To round off the evening, Tess Burrows gave an inspirational address entitled ‘You Can Make a Difference’, drawing on her own experiences to illustrate the point. As a 60-something-year-old granny, deciding to walk to the South Pole was “a bit of a challenge” but having set her mind on doing it, she planned and prepared – physically and mentally – for the journey ahead. Her tip to the young people was to break big challenges down into small manageable bits.

Tess was also passionate about the fact that everyone on this planet depends on everyone else, and she has visited many places bearing peace messages and raising awareness of environmental issues.

Mr Allan concluded: “Everyone in the hall, young and old alike, was inspired by her words.”

Having congratulated the award winners on their achievements, Mr Allan went on to thank the parents and leaders for their support, and complimented The Petersfield School for hosting the event.