BY EMILY HALLETT & KEIRA FOLEY
“Earning a Duke of Edinburgh award means volunteering in the community, developing new skills, becoming fitter through physical activity and completing a demanding but exciting expedition. In this article we, Keira Foley and Emily Hallett, wanted to share our experience so far which, due to the pandemic, has been slightly different to usual!
Emily: “My expedition was loads of fun. It was challenging but it really helped being with my friends and singing as we went. Before we set off in our teams, we were given a map and a compass. Our leader pointed out a few checkpoints and where we had to end up. Then we made a route to follow. We did very well, making a few wrong turns but getting back on track eventually. On the first day, we ended up having lunch 1 hour late making the team slightly “hangry” but lunch really lifted our spirits. Although it was a shame that we couldn’t camp overnight due to the pandemic, the countryside was really beautiful and relaxing. I found the second day the hardest even though it was only 12km compared to 14km the day before. All my muscles were hurting but the whole experience was so rewarding that, after I had finished, I wanted to do it all over again!”
Keira: “I haven’t done my expedition yet but I cannot wait after hearing how much Emily enjoyed hers. I definitely knew I wanted to do cooking & baking for my skill so have been cooking dinner for my family on Tuesdays and sometimes baking cakes on the weekends.
I chose Hockey for my physical but was really struggling to come up with an idea for volunteering that I could do for 3 months. My original ideas to volunteer at our local football training or local Scout troop weren’t going to work anymore due to lockdown, although I had already spent 4 hours cleaning our brand new Scout HQ!
Instead I decided to volunteer by delivering this Chertsey Life magazine. Volunteering is about choosing to give time to help people, the community, society or environment. I thought it would be nice to be able to deliver a magazine that helps our community feel more connected in this difficult time of Coronavirus. Plus getting to do this work with my friend Emily makes it really fun and something I look forward to every month!”