Duke of Edinburgh award participants leave to complete their Silver Adventurous Journey

A group of young Gibraltarians from the Open Award Centre leave today to travel to the Spanish sierra in order to complete their qualifying Silver Adventurous Journey (AJ).

The 13 participants, whose ages range from 16 to 17 years will be based in the Serranía de Ronda and shall be there until Monday. They will complete their AJ, which for most participants is the most arduous part of the Award Programme.

The AJ entails travelling approximately 50 kilometres by foot over three days with two nights spent under canvas. The participants will carry all their food, tents, stoves, fuel and other equipment in their rucksacks as they are expected to be self-sufficient during the venture.

As if that is not enough, they are expected to do this in unfamiliar wild country and do so by navigating their way along a pre-planned route, with the hope of not deviating too much and definitely without getting lost.

But that is not all, the Award requires that participants undertake "a journey with a purpose" and to this end they will need to produce a written report of the venture. The topic is of their choosing and needs to be relevant to the area they are visiting.

During the AJ they will be monitored by independent assessor, Mark Ablitt, who will determine if the participants are observing the correct country code procedures, correctly navigating across the Serranía and, meeting the conditions for a qualifying venture.

The participants will be accompanied by adult leaders, Bianca Segui, Danielle Corso, Gabriella Grech, Lianne Agius, Romany Vinent, and Mouetaz Ziani who will all be acting as supervisors and, as such, shall be responsible for the general safety and wellbeing of the participants whilst away from the Rock.

“The Award and the participants wish to thank them, and many others, for all the time they have spent over the years in getting the participants ready for the qualifying AJ and for accompanying them on this venture,” said a statement from organisers.

For more information about the AJ or the Open Award Centre please Mouetaz Ziani, OAC Chairman oacdukeschair@gmail.com or for more information about the Award in Gibraltar contact the National Director, Michael Pizzarello on 20051971 or email michael.pizzarello@thedukes.gi

The Award is an exciting youth development programme open to young people between the ages of 14 and 24. Visit www.thedukes.gi for more information.