FOUR adventurous Somerset youngsters visited Buckingham Palace this month to mark the 60th Anniversary of the Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Awards.


The young people from Taunton School, Bridgwater College and Frome College were invited to take part in a special Gold Award Presentation.


It took place in the grounds of the palace on May 16, where they received their Gold Award from HRH the Duke of Edinburgh. 


Somerset County Council was also honoured at the event with a commemorative plaque to acknowledge the authority’s involvement with DofE during the Diamond year.


The County Council has a DofE operating licence and supports schools, colleges and community groups to offer DofE programmes to 14-24 year olds.


Last year was a record-breaker for the DofE in Somerset, with 2,438 young people starting a programme (up 16 per cent) and 1,002 completing an award (up 5.9 per cent), with many others still ongoing.


There are currently about 60 active DofE groups across the county, including a small number of DofE groups running in Special and Partnership (PRU) schools, with hopes to build on these in the coming years.


Jeff Brown, Somerset County Council’s service manager for Youth Development said: “We need to recruit more volunteers and generate income to help sustain and grow DofE in Somerset, and we hope to use DofE's Diamond Anniversary to raise awareness and funds.

That’s why all offers of support from local businesses and the general public will be gratefully received.”


To celebrate the Diamond anniversary, Somerset County Council has also founded a county DofE committee in order to support further developments and enable more young people to complete a DofE programme.


In the autumn of 2016 a bursary fund will be launched which will help those in financial hardship to complete a DofE programme.


You can find out more about Somerset DofE on Twitter @SomersetDofE and Facebook www.facebook.com/Duke-of-Edinburghs-Award-in-Somerset or by visiting the national DofE website: www.dofe.org