The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Bermuda, Congratulates 2020 Gold Awardees
On Wednesday 12th and Thursday 13th August, The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, Bermuda, and His Excellency the Governor, Mr. John Rankin CMG, Patron of the Award, awarded twenty-five young participants their Gold Certificates and Pins. The twenty-five Gold Awardees completed their Gold Qualifying Journeys and Residential Projects in Zambia 2017, Bahamas and Eleuthera Island 2018 and Zambia & the Spirit of Bermuda 2019. These 25 Gold Awardees have given close to 14,000 hours of community service to our community.
Macy Aicardi – Tri-Holder K’ari Bean - Bermuda Bridge Award 1 & 2, Tri-Holder, Award Leader, Participant Rep. Bryana Bell - Dual-Holder, Award Leader & Assessor
Camille Chin-Gurret – Tri-Holder & Adventurous Journey Supervisor
Nkosi Edwards – Dual-Holder
Jair Eve – Tri-Holder Erik Frederick – Tri- Holder Ronee’ Jennings - Bermuda Bridge Award Level 1 & 2, Tri-Holder Natalie Lightbourne – Tri-Holder Jessie Marshall – Tri-Holder Emma Mayor – Tri-Holder
Jada Outerbridge – Dual-Holder Sierra Pacheco – Tri-Holder Cristin Raynor – Dual Holder Jordyn Richardson - Bermuda Bridge Award 1 & 2, Tri-Holder
Brianna Simmons – Bermuda Bridge Award 1 & 2, Tri-Holder, Award Leader & Assessor
Conor Sinclair – Tri-Holder
Emily Sinclair – Tri - Holder
Finn Smith – Tri-Holder
Robin Stempel – Tri-Holder
Jevon Talbot – Direct Entrant, Award Leader & Assessor
Robert Thomas Jr. - Bermuda Bridge Award Level 1 & 2, Dual-Holder
Iziah Tucker - Bermuda Bridge Award Level 1 & 2, Tri-Holder
Amirh Wade - Bermuda Bridge Award Level 1 & 2, Tri-Holder
Treiana Zuill - Tri-Holder, Award Leader & Participant Rep.
H.E. the Governor Mr John Rankin, stated, “H.E. the Governor Mr John Rankin, stated, “I offer my warm congratulations to each and every one of these young people who have received the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. I know that this has involved a huge amount of hard work and effort, learning new skills, building their fitness and giving back to the community.
The Awardees have shown how much can be achieved through the Duke of Edinburgh Programme which I believe will stand them, and Bermuda, in good stead for the future.
I also thank all those who help and organise the Award in Bermuda, including the generous donors who ensure that the Award is open to all young people irrespective of financial means.
On average, each year over ten percent of our island’s population aged between 14 and 25 participates in the Duke of Edinburgh Programme, which puts Bermuda among the highest participation rates in the world.”
Programme Director of the Award, Karen Simmons, stated, “These 25 Gold Awardees invested in developing themselves toward their physical fitness, skill development, voluntary service in the community and a sense of true Adventure. I would like to highlight that in this group, seven completed the Bermuda Bridge Award through the Whitney Institute Middle School Award Center, nineteen are Tri-holders, five are dual holders and one is a direct entrant. They have sacrificed their “sleep” time to train very early in the morning for the Adventurous Journey section with improving their physical fitness – running along the beach and sand dunes at Chaplin and Horseshoe Bay Beach, running hill sprints up Kilimanjaro (Chaplin Bay), 5 – 7 mile walks with the Walking Club of Bermuda starting at 7 am and circuit training. They have fundraised as a group during their respective years. All of this did not take place over a few days, or weeks but months.”
“They have walked through rivers and up mountains, along very long stretches of beach and jagged honeycomb rocks; been in the water when there have been baby sharks swimming close by, eaten hippo meat and walked through areas that had forest fires all around them, held a snake, slept on a mail boat for 12 hours, helped to support an Award Leader when she got stuck in the crevice of a ravine, slept on an island with elephants and hippos, been on safaris in Africa, seen the Victoria Falls, went into the tallest building in the world – Burj Khalifa - Dubai, run to their airplane (multiple times) and been taken off of planes, given back to every community they engaged in and the list goes on and on. I have had the privilege of being a part of each of these young people’s lives in one way or another and I am honored to congratulate these inspirational young people who are #worldready.”
Chair of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, Jovanna Douglas, said, “On behalf of the Award Council, I would like to congratulate all the Gold Awardees. Achieving the Gold Award is the culmination of countless hours of hard work and commitment. The Gold Award recognises the efforts made over a lengthy period of time and Award recipients, their family, friends and supporters can and should be justifiably proud of their achievements. I know this experience will contribute greatly to their individual growth and future success.”
Jovanna Douglas concluded by saying, “We owe a huge debt of thanks to those individuals that volunteer their time and commitment in Bermuda to deliver the Award. Without the countless hours of time devoted by our Award volunteers/assessors and staff, we would not be able to celebrate these achievements today. As with the Award’s volunteers, we must also thank all those that support the Award financially. In particular, a grateful thanks to the Award’s Gold Award Donor Partners: The Boyle Trust, The Bank of Bermuda Foundation, Conyers and AXAXL Foundation for their support and generous donations.”
The Award develops well-rounded, global citizens who take pride in themselves and their communities. If you are interested in getting involved in the programme or would like to donate, please email fiona@theaward.bmor call 737-8959.