Over the past couple of weeks, we have had two groups of students take part in their Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh Awards, organised through Cumbria Youth Alliance (CYA).
The first group were all from Year 10. They had been unable to complete their Bronze Award in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions. They were Tahlia Sim, Maisie Wilson, Maddison Dixon, Courtney Lancaster, Casey-Layla Mawson and Amber Diamond.
They have since completed the final part of their award, taking part in a two-day qualifying walk in May 2021.
The group was dropped off on day one at Bassenthwaite Village, where upon they set off up to Skiddaw House via Peterhouse farm. From there they continued on to the Blencathra Centre at Threlkeld, where they were picked up in the minibus and returned to school.
On day two, the group were dropped off at Threlkeld, and walked up the Old Coach road to Matterdale Common.
Both of these routes were completed in good time by the group. The group were fortunate with the weather for both days, with only the occasional light shower.
Richard Wilson, Duke of Edinburgh Manager at CYA said:
“The girls showed great resilience on a challenging walk, whilst sporting a range of fashion orientated equipment.”
The second group, all from Year 11 completed their Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award. The group excelled throughout the walk, despite scorching weather across all three days. They were Scott Monan, Nico Smith, Alfie Hodgson, Cameron Davidson and Phoenix Lindsay.
Day one for the group was a slightly extended version of the Bronze groups’ day one walk, where they continued on after reaching the Blencathra Centre and ended down in Threlkeld Village itself.
Day two was again an extension of the bronze groups’ second day, starting off with walking the Old Coach road from Threlkeld to Matterdale Common. The group then continued down to Dockray, before heading down to Aira Force and taking in the picturesque surroundings of the waterfalls.
The final day’s walk for the group was from Aira Force, along Ullswater to Patterdale, and then on to Hartsop.
Each night between walks, the boys camped at Threlkeld Cricket Club where they assembled their tents, cooked on Trangia stoves and were completely self-sufficient.
Jamie Lihou, Expedition Lead said:
“The boys thoroughly enjoyed their time in the baking heat, and impressed all involved with their work ethic. We hope to see them all next year for their Gold Award!”
