Award Update South East

50th Anniversary Celebrations at Buckingham Palace

Over 5,000 volunteers and supporters attended a Garden Party held at Buckingham Palace on the 13th July 2006. The Garden Party was to say thank you to our Operating Authorities for supporting us over the last 50 years.

The event was attended by Her Majesty the Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh and the Earl and Countess of Wessex. Also joining us on the day were icons of the last 50 years.

Although over cast the rain stayed away for a very enjoyable day. With plenty of food and drink to keep everyone happy.

We were glad to see representatives from all of our Local Authorities plus 8 of our Independent schools colleting an Operating Authority Certificate of Thanks.

For all those that were able to attend from all of us at the South East Office we hope you had a brilliant time.

On Sunday 25th June a Garden Party was hosted by the Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire at Woolley Park. The event was attended by HRH The Earl of Wessex.

The Garden Party was held to celebrate the involvement of volunteers within the Award in Berkshire and to celebrate the 50th Anniversary.

As part of the 50th Anniversary on the 16th July 2006 23 teams of young people took part in Medway’s version of “It’s a Knock Out”.

It was a fantastic day with approximately 200 spectators cheering on the teams.

The Isle of Wight 50th Anniversary Celebration camp took place over the weekend of 15th and 16th July. The camp included a presentation of Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards by the deputy Lord Lieutenant. Although the event was not attended by huge numbers, a good time was had by all, including some new recruits who had not camped before. The Isle of Wight celebrated by looking back at past highlights of the Award's history and undertaking new activities. They finished the weekend with a celebration cake and a presentation of Awards.

This years expedition was drawn from a mixed group of young people from Brighton & Hove, with other young people joining the venture from Medway, Exeter and Windsor & Maidenhead. The weather was good for the venture especially during the assessment expedition, all the young people completed their expedition. There were also young people involved in a residential which involved replacing fencing and dry stone walling around the site.

On the 30th July East Sussex Duke of Edinburgh's Award held a Garden Party to celebrate the Golden Jubilee and to present nearly 50 young people and adult volunteers with their Gold Awards and Level 2 Awards in Basic Expedition Leadership. The event was held at Herstmonceux Castle and was well attended by various local dignitaries, in addition the Lord Lieutenant presented the certificates and Tom Avery, the Artic Explorer, was the invited Guest. Peter Westgarth was also in attendance and offered his closing comments on the day. All in all a very successful and enjoyable day.

FONTWELL RACEDAY

On the 30th September Fontwell Racecourse in West Sussex held a Charity Raceday in aid of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

This day would not have been possible with out the help of our sponsors Insinger de Beaufort, Paul Challen, Chase Moran, Lexus Cars, Mercers and Eastbourne and District Managing Agency.

We would also like to thank everyone who supported the auction and helped to raise £4,600.

Congratulations to Lillian Holdsworth and Nikki Hamilton-Street and all the other members of staff from the West Sussex Office who put a lot of time and effort into the running of this event.

The 30th September was also the final of the Golden Trangia Competition which saw teams competing from all over the South East, including a team from AWS Germany.

18 teams of young people took part on the day plus 3 leader teams. A good time was had by all and the food looked amazing.

Congratulations and well done to everyone that took part in the competition, the results were as follows:

The South East Office would also like to say a big thankyou to Alistair Cole at Adventure Lifesigns who supported and helped with the judging of this event. Also a thankyou to the other judges on the day Mr Lister Baynes Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Expedition Advisory Panel and Capt ChrisTrowbridge from the Army Catering Corps.

Dairy Lea Tomato Bread:
Cut bread in half horizontally
Slice tomatoes and place on each slice of bread
Cut Dairy Lea into chunks and place on top of tomatoes
Rip basil leaves into small bits and scatter on top
Drizzle balsamic vinegar and olive oil on top of each slice of bread
Shake pepper on each slice of bread

KW Spatzle:
Cook of broccoli until just about soft
Cut onion and fry in oil
While onion is frying cut up chicken
Add more oil to pan and fry chicken and mushrooms
When chicken is cooked add spatzle, water and butter/margarine. Cook through
Add broccoli
When heated through add cheese
Serve. Eat and Enjoy

General Information

Problems with the Country Code!
As many of you may be aware we have had a number of complaints this year regarding gates being left open in fields. We appreciate that the Country Code states that you should leave gates as you find them. But could you please advise groups to be extra careful when out on expeditions.

DEAMS Training
A big thank you to Christine Froud and Sam Bennie for conducting 2 successful DEAMS Training Days for all those with problems. We hope everyone is now more comfortable with the system. Hopefully there will be more dates next year for those of you who still have problems.

Four young people in Southampton celebrated the 50th anniversary for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in August when they received prizes for taking the best snaps in a Photograph Competition organised by the Southampton Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

First prize winners were Harry McCarthy, Lincoln Smith and Robert Neale, they each received an Activity Weekend for themselves and a friend kindly donated by Southampton Water Activity Centre.

Taking second prize was Liam Davis, his prize was an Activity Weekend for himself and a friend, and this prize was kindly donated by Woodmill Outdoor Activity Centre. The prizes were presented by John Thorn, Manager of Southampton Water Activity Centre (SWAC) and Shirley Price, South East Region Director of the Award. The theme of the competition focussed on the four sections of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards .

Four Duke of Edinburgh’s Award participants from South East Hampshire attended a special performance of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro on Sunday 9th July. The Royal Opera House was celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Paul Hamlyn Performances, an initiative to give people their first experience of live opera via the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

Having navigated their way to Covent Garden, through the tube system Michelle, Cathy-Ann, Laura and James, who take part in the Award through Hampshire County Youth Service, were “blown away” by the opera. The day was an excellent example of the type of incredible opportunity that enable young people to “enjoy and achieve”…

For details of the Royal Opera’s Paul Hamlyn Performances visit the website at: http://info.royaloperahouse.org/hamlyn/

Andy Kennedy, The Award Project, Wessex YOT