DofE Gold Open Award Group under way

This is our first year as a DofE Centre, and we're so fortunate to have come into contact with this amazing group of young people. It takes guts to step outside of your comfortable school or college social circles and commit to doing DofE Gold with people you've never met. In the photo you've got participants from four schools across Inverness & the Black Isle, with Inverness College UHI represented as well.

We've got a good plan together for the expedition training, with a practice in April and qualifying expedition in July 2022. Importantly there is some really good volunteering happening - everything from sports coaching to running a school lunchtime book club. Skills and physical sections range from indoor climbing to playing the piano. We've also got the fabulous Luke & Fiona volunteering their time to run the fortnightly training. Luke has just come back from his Summer Mountain Leader training, generously funded by the Mountain Training Scotland Bursary. I also want to add a massive shout out to the Impact Hub for giving us a very comfortable meeting venue. All in all this is such a powerful example of the Award doing what it does best - gently challenging both participants and volunteers to change their lives for the better by giving energy to other people.