We have been meeting since January 2003 for young people in school year Y9 and above. There are three levels of Award, Bronze, Silver and Gold. The majority of our members start with Bronze and work through to Gold. The awards are exciting, offering new experiences, and can help in later life by making it easier to find employment. The Gold Award is given by the Duke of Edinburgh himself to the few who achieve it.

There are three main parts to the awards. The Bronze Group do the following:

Skills & service From 6.30 - 7.45pm on Sunday evenings we carry out activities to learn new skills and put them into practice. These included cooking, first aid training, crafts and woodworking (building bird boxes).

In addition have raised money for charity by means of a car wash (Huntington’s Association) and some sponsored events, most recently an abseil at Wigan Quality Hotel in aid of the tsunami appeal.

Physical recreation We have learnt climbing (indoor wall at Warrington and outdoors), and kayaking. We have also been gorge walking, caving and snorkelling.

Expedition In the spring we hold expedition planning sessions where we learn map-reading and so on. Then we have two expedition week-ends: one practice at Anglezarke and one ‘for real’ at Garstang, both involving a nights camping.

The Bronze Group meet at 6.30pm on Sunday nights in St Thomas Church Hall. For more information, contact us.

We are delighted that we have gained over 100 Awards for those who have completed their D of E Awards with us since 2003.

In September 2007 we are starting new groups doing Duke of Edinburgh’s awards to which anyone in Y9 of above is welcome. Let us know if you are interested, [John Holden tel. 729451, Tony Russell tel. 078606 32113] or come along on a Sunday night.

Finally, thank you to many people who have taught us new skills, provided transport and supported fund-raising events.

Tony Russell, Dave Gratton, Susan Crehan, Ceri Mansell, Maurice Smith, John Holden and Angela Novak (leaders)