E R Grove's Diamond D of E Challengers

This year the Duke of Edinburgh (D of E) award is in its 60^th year and to celebrate they are challenging us all to do the ‘Diamond challenge’. Two of our members of staff, Lucy and Tom, were invited to take part in a one off D of E Diamond challenge by abseiling down the Birmingham Metropolitan College building to raise funds for the D of E Charity.

The Duke of Edinburgh scheme is now the world’s leading youth achievement award, with millions of people across the UK and more recently across the globe holding either a Bronze, Silver or Gold award. In fact, last year 111,859 people achieved the award in the UK at 1,200 organisations.

For those who do not know what the Duke of Edinburgh award is, it requires the candidate to complete a number of different sections throughout the year. These sections included voluntary work, a physical activity, a skill, an expedition and for gold award holders, as residential placement.

Perhaps the most memorable and challenging part of the award is the expedition. For the expedition you can cycle, canoe, hike, ride on horseback, whatever as long as you complete it outdoors. Hiking is a very popular choice, where the candidates work as a small team to map out routes for a practice and final expedition in areas such as the lake district, the peak district and the Brecon beacons.

Lucy and Tom were lucky enough to complete their Duke of Edinburgh award whilst they were at school. However, many young people do not get this opportunity. The people behind the Duke of Edinburgh scheme work tirelessly to raise funds to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to realise their potential by equipping them with the confidence and skills they need to become work-ready, well-rounded individuals. These funds directly impact the lives of 2 million 14-24 year olds.

So, when Olympic athlete Phil Brown challenged Lucy and Tom to the Diamond challenge at the Black Country Chamber CSR event they were more than happy to take part.

As the Diamond challenge was based in Central Birmingham, hundreds of people passed through during the day to see what was going on. There was also a royal visit from the Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward. The Earl dropped in to meet with the younger Diamond Challengers and some students that are currently doing the award. Birmingham Metropolitan College then welcomed the Earl into the college so that he could present them with a licence to operate the D of E in the college.

Once the excitement of the Earl arriving was over, Lucy and Tom made their way to the top of the building. Both Lucy and Tom agreed that the nerves really started to kick in once they reached the top, which is only natural.

Lucy said “to begin with I was very shaky as I had to hang my legs over the side and sit backwards, which meant putting all of my trust in the instructor, my harness and the rope. It was also difficult to lean backwards in the first instance, but once I got the hang of it I loved it and before I knew it I was at the bottom.” All in all, it was a fantastic achievement and a great day out for such a good cause.