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DofE

2019 – Exemplo Ducemus

What a year 2019 was, or wasn’t.  The first time I missed a Scottish winter for 20 years, a trip to Africa cancelled at the last minute, a climb in India scrapped because of lack of interest and a cycling trip to SE Asia cancelled because of injury.  For some just that would be disastrous enough, but all those setbacks paled into insignificance on March 20th as, out of the blue, I lost my Dad.  The literary world is strewn with poetry, prose and paragraph about death, but no words can describe the feelings of loss I had and still have.  I’m happy that he left us peacefully, with his loving family around him.  He felt no pain or suffering and I thank God for that. Only the night before, he’d been on top form, laughing and joking with me at a Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme Presentation.  It was a striking lesson in living every day of your life to the fullest of your abilities.

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The Duke of Edinburgh Award – Diamonds, Diving and Derbyshire…

stella-divers

My first connection with the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme was in the early 1990’s, when I was a young engineer at East Midlands Electricity.  They were a major sponsor back then and had purchased a number large of box trailers, filled with expedition equipment.  I ferried them around schools, helped set up a DofE group at the office and volunteered where I could.  Those days seem long gone as corporate takeovers scrapped sponsorship and abandoned the award.Read More »The Duke of Edinburgh Award – Diamonds, Diving and Derbyshire…

Alison Hargreaves, Education and Regulation…

Alison-Hargreaves

20 years ago today, mountaineering lost one of its greats.  Alison Hargreaves had summited Mt. Everest unaided and without oxygen, and was hoping to repeat this huge achievement on both K2 and Kanchenjunga.  During the evening of 13th August 1995, a violent storm hit the summit of K2, killing Hargreaves and five others.  Though never formally identified, she lies there to this day, buried under snow and ice.  A few items of equipment were found, but nothing more.  It is a tragic story, which has caused controversy to this day.  That, however is for someone else to discuss…

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