Evening celebration shines the spotlight on 150 inspiring North Ayrshire youngsters

Posted on 3 Apr 2023

The Duke of Edinburgh Awards ceremony recently celebrated the hard work and dedication of North Ayrshire's talented young people.

Back for the first time since the pandemic, the Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) celebration was held at the Civic Centre in Ardrossan last Wednesday evening.

Provost Anthea Councillor Anthea Dickson attended the event to hear all about the young peoples' tremendous achievements. She was also joined by Councillor Chloe Robertson, North Ayrshire's Young People's Champion.

North Ayrshire is firmly on the map as one of the most accomplished local authorities in the region with over 800 young people currently working through their DofE awards.

Aged between 14 to 24, 150 young people gathered at the event to receive their coveted Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards.

These included youth groups in the Three Towns as well as from Greenwood, Irvine Royal, Garnock, Kilwinning, Arran High, Ardrossan and Auchenharvie Academies.

The audience also learned about the achievements of Irvine Royal Academy, Greenwood Academy, Auchenharvie Academy and the Extended Outreach DofE groups via a presentation of film, photographs, music and by standing up on stage and engaging with the very impressed audience of over 300 people.

Local award leaders, volunteers, parents, guardians and support workers also turned out in force to celebrate the success of the young people who have worked hard to achieve the Physical, Volunteering, Expedition and Skills sections of their DofE Awards.*

Councillor Chloe Robertson, Young People's Champion commented: "I continue to be inspired by the resilience and determination of our young people across North Ayrshire.

"I am particularly impressed by how many of our young people are doing their part to tackle climate change via the volunteering category, clocking in an impressive amount of hours to help out with local litter picking sessions and beach clean-ups.

"And it's fantastic to learn that since the pandemic, the expedition sessions of the awards have returned again, giving young people the chance to experience the wonder of nature in some of Scotland's most scenic landscapes while navigating a challenging terrain. Everyone has done a fantastic job, they should be really proud of themselves."

North Ayrshire Provost, Councillor Anthea Dickson co-presented during the evening, she added: "I am so immensely proud of our young people who have achieved their Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

"Well done to everyone taking part. The awards are one of the highlights of the year and the Duke of Edinburgh accolades are recognised internationally as a standard of excellence, so we are delighted that so many of our young people can celebrate this fantastic achievement.

"The evening was a fitting tribute to the hard work and dedication of our young people and everyone behind the scenes too.

"Anyone who has ever worked towards a Duke of Edinburgh award knows just how much work is involved and at times, it can really push you to your limit.

"The celebration has offered a terrific opportunity to see just how many young people have pushed well beyond their comfort zones to achieve their goals. I have no doubt that those progressing to their next award level will continue to impress us all as they learn new skills and set their goals for 2023."

Eight participants from Auchenharvie Academy, Arran High and Garnock Community Campus have successfully completed their Gold Awards and have officially received their invitations to attend the Palace of Holyrood House in July to receive their Awards from the new Duke of Edinburgh, HRH Prince Edward.

Additional schools have started their DofE journeys for 2023, including Lockhart, and will be represented at the awards this time next year.

The Duke of Edinburgh Awards offer a wealth of exciting development opportunities for young people to learn new skills and realise their full potential.

The evening was held in celebration of the hard work from all participants and leaders, and reinforces North Ayrshire Council's commitment to supporting young people through their DofE Awards.

Outstanding Commitment Award

During the ceremony, Euan Hunter, from Irvine was presented with the Outstanding Commitment Award. He was nominated by his Award Leader, Scott Walley. Scott said, "Euan has excelled in his DofE group after overcoming a variety of issues in his earlier life. Instead of letting these issues get him down, he dug in hard with his DofE, completed his Bronze in record time and also helps younger members of his group to achieve".

Euan is now working through his Silver whilst assisting younger members of his DofE group and helping leaders in organising some of his group's DofE activities. He was presented with his well-deserved Award from Angela Morrell, Senior Manager for Connected Communities.

*Highlights of hours undertaken in the physical category included football, mountain biking, gym work and swimming with expeditions including 4-day's hiking through Glencoe and Lochaber (Gold), 3-day's hiking through the heart of the Galloway Hills (Silver) and 2-day's hiking through Loch Ard Forest in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.

Examples of volunteering work included coaching children in sport, beach clean-ups and litter picking sessions and working with local charities to help older people. And skills-specific highlights undertaken by the young people included learning to drive, arts and crafts and playing musical instruments.

2023 Award Recipients

Bronze: Mirren Agnew, Iona Allan, Isla Allison, Greig Allison, Lewis Anderson, Melissa Anderson, Hannah Austin, Milla Barrett, Benjamin Beckford, Ross Booth, Ella Bruce, Hannah Bruce, Darcey Burke, Olivia Burns, David Cameron, Cara Campbell, Hannah Campbell, Amber Carey, Thomas Carling, Lily Charles, Ava Church, Hollie Clark, Jenna Clark, Eilidh Connolly, Tommy Cooper, Rebecca Cox, Kharli Crawford-MacAry, Thomas Crews, Rachel Cronie, Fletcher Cunningham, Isla Cureton, Lily Currie, Sophie Cushnaghan, Ethan Davidson, Cameron Davidson, Jake Drynan, Holly Flynn, Brandon Foran, Lewis Gibson, William Gillen, Rory Gill, Caiden Gills, Calean Gills, Stuart Gilmour, Eilidh Hagon, Robbie Hale, Brodie Hamilton, Neve Hands, Ava Hardy, Molly Hardy, Olivia Hastie, Beth Hill, Sonni Hill, Aidan Houston, Euan Hunter, Kae-Lee Hunter, Ellis Ingram, Caleb Jamieson, Conlan Kelly, Cameron Leckie, Sophie Lewis, Lewis Logan, Josh Lovick, Kieran Lynn, Kaiden Mann, Jorja McAttee, Olivia McCallum, Chloe McCann, Emily McDougall, Alexander McDougall, Kate McGeachie, Faye McGeachie, Christina McGillion, Tyler McGreavy, Brodie McGregor, Rachael McGregor, Lana McIntyre, Logan McKinlay, Ewan McKinlay, Brandon McLarney, Amy McLelland, Abbie Miller, Rebecca Mills, Aimee Morrison, Hannah Morrow, Natalie Morton, Aiden Morton, David Muir, Rachel Muir, Naeve Muir, Kyle Muirhead, Calvin Murphy, Skye Nelson, Lilly Nguyen, Devyn Nicol, Imogen Nicolson, Matthew O'Brien, Egan Palmer, Emma Paterson, Ellis Purkiss, Katy Jo Ritchie, Ellie Robertson, Neve Robertson, Declan Robinson, Lucy Roe, Charlie Ruffy, Aiden Russell, Jamie Saunderson, Cameron Scott, Joshua Sharkey, Bryony Sharp, Murray Shaw, Ali Shearer, Murray Slaven, Cara Slavin, Cara Smith, Kristopher Somerville, Rowan Spence, Callum Stevenson, Logan Stewart, Blair Sutherland, Sophie Sutherland, Freya Taggart, Grace Tannock, Dylan Thomas, Jessica Thomson, Lee Toy, Lucy Truss, Lucy Turner, Kaiser Wade, Tiger Wade, Lilly Watkins, Keira Watson, Emily Watters, Maddox Webster, Madison Webster, Leah Welsh, Theo Whitelaw, Jake Wilson, Maiya Wilson, Evie Wilson, Calum Withers, Kassia Wright, Katie Wylie

Silver: Iona Allan, Lewis Anderson, Melissa Anderson, Milla Barrett, Ross Booth, Cara Campbell, Thomas Carling, Ava Church, Holly Flynn, Jason Galbraith, Caiden Gills, Calean Gills, Robbie Hale, Neve Hands, Beth Hill, Josh Lovick, Emily McDougall, Alexander McDougall, Finlay McFarlane, Kate McGeachie, Faye McGeachie, T-Jay McKnight, Brandon McLarney, Rebecca Mills, Naeve Muir, David Muir, Elliot O'Brien, Emma Paterson, Charlie Ruffy, Murray Shaw, Rowan Spence, Lucy Truss, Emily Watters, Madison Webster, Theo Whitelaw

Gold: Beth Hill, Abbie McKelvie, Brandon McLarney, David Millar, Naeve Muir, Connor Paterson, Rebekah Patterson, Madison Webster

For more information on the Duke of Edinburgh's Award in North Ayrshire, please contact Connected Communities on 01294 47590 or email: [email protected]

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