Duke of Edinburgh’s international award presentation ceremony

The Duke of Edinburgh award ceremony was held on Tuesday with 107 young people being presented with their award.

The Governor, Vice Admiral Sir David Steel, presented Bronze and Silver awards to their recipients before their families, sponsors, activity coaches and members of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.

The youths being celebrated have completed a 24-month program of activities, composed of four different sections.

The Voluntary Service section aims to develop a sense of community and social responsibility through assisting at various charities, first aid courses, conservation and environmental work.
For Skills, they have learnt about acting, art and design, bible studies, chess, cookery, drama, online gaming and cybersecurity, learning other languages including sign language, singing and playing musical instruments, photography, and other pastimes.

The Adventurous Journey section involved challenging hikes. A 24km Jimena de la Frontera - Sierra de Grazalema walk (Bronze), 48 km in the Sierra de Gredos (Silver), or 80km in Cevennes, France, for Gold.

In the Physical Recreation section, the recipients have also been heavily involved in sports such as athletics, ballet, basketball, cricket, cycling, dance, football, gymnastics, hockey, lawn and table tennis, martial arts, netball, rugby, swimming, volleyball, and Zumba.

The Gold award has an additional section, the Gold Residential Project, which sees participants undertake some form of purposeful enterprise whilst living away from home for a week. This year’s Gold Award recipients have participated in an arts retreat, undertaken climate change and sustainability work in Bosnia & Herzegovina and undertaking an outdoor adventure course in Lancashire.

The award recipients are as follows:
BRONZE AWARD
Niklaas Matthew Acolina, Kobie Allen, Phoebe Banda, Caitlyn Bautista, Jesus Bernal, Ella Bocarisa, Alaina May Borge, Charles Camilleri, Liam Caruana, Ryan Caruana, Sarah Cavilla, George Horace Cawood, Harvey Benjamin Chadwick, Samuel Chapman, Jerome Chellaram, Eve Cruz, Tzu Lee Marie Cruz, Lauren Davies, Eva De Los Santos, Leila Debono, Aditya Dhanwani, Adrianne Durante, Grace Olivia Anne Dyson, Lilly Mae Estella, Ella Garcia, Gino Guilliano, Miles Robert Hamilton, Zach Hamilton, Madison Frances Harper, Harry Hignett, Mark Imossi, Alex Latin, Alice Leroy, Shyrelle Ann Macias, Aliza Malik, Ella Martin-Vassallo, Tyler Mauro, Lauren Anna Mauro Torres, Izzy Morgan, Evan Moya, Megan Mumford, Suhana Nagrani, Preston Noguera, Max Nuttall, Marco O’Connor, Daniel Olivero, Elsa Parody, Kevagn Pereira, Ellis Forbes Pillans, Isabelle Ramos, Sam Redman, Aimee Reyes, Dani Rodriguez, Lily May Rogers, Laura Ruiz, Alana Sacarello, Liam Sacristian, David Valarino, Chloe Marie Vasquez, John Victor, Sarah Wilkie and Mika Zammit.

SILVER AWARD
Bradley Beards, Olivia Bellingan, Cameron Byrne, Erin Byrne, Shenai Caballero-Laoudy, Lucia Cardenas Bernal, Matvey Celecia, Adrian Chumillas Ontiente, Niamh Colton, Max Cruz, Daniel Culligan-Huggins, Karizma Daswani, Karenza Daswani, Sebastian Diaz Mateos, Preston Feeke, Diego Guzman Rodriguez, Ronak Hariramani, Emily Hermida, Louise Hyde, Pablo Kussner, Marta Leiria, Harvey Leroy, Lee Mifsud, Emily Moir, Ana Montero, Cristina Muñoz, Param Nagrani, Lucia O'Connor, Jesse Olivero, Haylee Pincho, Thomas Posso, Marta Rodriguez, Iona Sacarello, Alexander Sanchez-Soiza, Ellie-Rose Sarson, Jesse Segui, Ana Serra, Div Shanani, Ohad Shay, Shanaya Sheriff, and Ryan Victor.

GOLD AWARD
Li Li Mae Cruz, Monica Popham, and Alaee Ziani.

A spokesperson for the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme explained that “the awards aim to give young people, aged 14 to 24, the opportunity to experience challenges and adventures, acquire new skills and make new friends.”

“Young people who do the Award become more confident and resilient, and develop skills in areas such as communication, problem solving and leadership.”

“This in turn impacts on their communities, who see improvements in areas including employability, health and well-being, and educational attainment.”

The Award's Trustees would also like to express their thanks to the Governor for allowing the Award to take over his home for the ceremony, and to his staff for working towards making the event a success.

If you are interested in becoming involved as a participant, leader, or supervisor, or wish to contribute financially or otherwise, please contact the National Director, Michael Pizzarello, on 20051971 or email michael.pizzarello@thedukes.gi, or visit www.thedukes.gi