23 students from Nelson and Colne College Sixth Form are well on their way to completing the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award after completing a gruelling 4 day expedition in the Yorkshire Dales.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award is a nationally recognised programme which aims to inspire, guide and support young people in their self-development and recognise their achievement. The programme is highly valued by universities and employers who are seeking well motivated, tenacious and hardworking individuals. The whole award can take between 18-24 months to complete and students must successfully complete five sections; Voluntary work, Skills (a hobby), Physical (sport activity), a 5 day Residential and Expedition.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award is a highly popular extra-curricular activity at the College and this year 23 students travelled to Reeth in the North East of the Yorkshire Dales to carry out their expedition. In order to fulfil the criteria for the expedition, the group had to plot their route carefully, plan their meals, buy food and carry all of the necessary camping gear whilst hiking the gruelling route through the Dales, ending in Malham.
Splitting into 4 groups, the students walked anywhere between 16-24kms a day and remained in high spirits, despite the rain and thunder storms!
The Expedition Assessor was impressed with both groups’ determination and commented upon how well they successfully that worked as teams. The group will now present their experiences in College in order to pass the whole of the expedition section.
