On 10th March, six former cadets and one young adult instructor attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace to celebrate their achievement in completing the Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE).
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Garden party
Buckingham Palace and garden.
A group of cadets, chosen for their participation in the DofE award, also acted as stewards. They handed out leaflets, gave directions and lined the route for the Duke to walk down. The stewards and recipients were joined by our Commandant, Colonel Deacon, and by Captain Molloy, both invited due to their contributions to, and support of, DofE.
Some of the Gold DofE attendees.
The large number of attendees necessitated separate morning and afternoon events. For the Commandant and cadets and family members with her, the event started with lunch at the London Scottish Regiment HQ, which was also a chance for all involved to socialise before the main event. Gold recipient PI Sam Bowler-Legate said; ‘It was really nice to see people again whom I had met on the Practice and Qualifier, and to find out how they were all getting on.’
The Duke meeting guests.
At the garden party, as well as receiving tea and cake, the attendees also had a chance to participate in games such as a bean bag toss, and to listen to speeches by Gold Award holder and BBC correspondent Clive Myrie and TikTok personality and disability advocate Lucy Edwards. It was also a chance to meet the Duke of Edinburgh himself, who spent several hours walking around and meeting people. PI Bowler-Legate said: ‘he stopped to ask me where I came from, and I proudly answered Cambridgeshire!’
ACF guests and stewards.
Our Commandant took the opportunity to award Bronze and Silver DofE certificates to some of our DofE participant cadets who were stewarding.
Colonel Deacon awards a DofE certificate.
PI Bowler-Legate said: ‘It was a lovely day. There were so many things to do, games and photo opportunities, it all made me feel like my hard work had paid off. The cadets stewarding loved it too, and worked so hard on a really hot day. They did a fantastic job doing whatever needed to be done’
Colonel Deacon said: ‘It was a fantastic day. I am really proud to be able to go and celebrate with our cadets and adult who have achieved their Gold Award and to reward them for all their hard work.’
The former cadets celebrating their Gold award were: Edward Burbridge (Yaxley), Bryn Williams (Cambourne), Sheetal Chopra (Chesterton), Joshua Parker (Longstanton), Owen Parker (Swavesey), Oliver Wade (Longstanton), and PI Samantha Bowler-Legate.
The 12 cadets and 2 CFAVs stewarding were: SSI Rylan Ray, SSI Emily White, Cpl April-Marie Doherty, (Huntington) LCpl Poppy-Anne Dixon (Huntington), Sgt Eli Goodwin (Whittlesey), CSM Grace Randall (Whittlesey), Cdt Kayleigh Clifton (Fletton), Cpl Pippa Wing (Fletton), Cpl Tristan Kirk (Yaxley), Cdt Catlin Evans (Yaxley), Cdt Arthur Mears (Burwell, LCpl Sebastian Naylor-Bower (Cambourne), Cpl Will Ackrill (St Neots), LCpl Isabel Haug (Cherry Hinton).
Text by SI Doug Stuart. Photos by SSI Emily White. Video by SI Doug Stuart and SSI Emily White.
