This week Year 13 student Andrew Smith attended a once in a life time Duke of Edinburgh's Award (DofE) Gold Award Presentation at Buckingham Palace, London.

On 16th May 2016, Y13 student Andrew Smith attended a once in a life time Duke of Edinburgh's Award (DofE) Gold Award Presentation at Buckingham Palace, London. At the event Macmillan Academy staff David Exeter and Chris Bede were presented with a special plaque from the DofE Charity by celebrity supporter Anton DuBeke, acknowledging the academy's commitment to running the DofE and thanking it for giving young people the opportunity to transform their lives.

During the Gold Award Presentation, HRH took the opportunity to congratulate our student from Macmillan Academy Post 16 on his success and heard about their DofE journey, which took Andrew 18 months of hard work and dedication.

Those who achieve a Gold DofE Award will volunteer, learn a skill, get fit, take part in a week long residential and plan and undertake an expedition in wild country. Widely acknowledged as the world's leading achievement award for young people, DofE programmes enable any young person, aged 14-24, to develop key skills for life and work, such as confidence, commitment and team working. Macmillan Academy holds a licence to deliver DofE programmes to anyone between the ages of 14-24 years old.

If you feel inspired by Andrew's success and want to find out more about how to get involved in DofE please speak to Mr Bede or Miss House who run the programmes or go to www.DofE.org for more information.