Prince Edward, The Earl of Wessex and Forfar, met young people from across North Lanarkshire who are taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh Awards.
The visit took place at the Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility in Motherwell on Thursday 30 June 2022 with the Earl being welcomed by Lord Lieutenant of Lanarkshire Lady Haughey CBE .
Around sixty young people were present at the event where they demonstrated a range of activities, including musical orienteering, first-aid, games, camping and outdoor cooking.
The Earl of Wessex, a Trustee of the awards and a Gold Award holder, visited North Lanarkshire as it has one of the strongest community-based Duke of Edinburgh Awards activity in Scotland.
Liz Fergus, Community Learning & Youth Work Manager, said: “The Earl of Wessex and Forfar was genuinely interested in our approach to delivering the programme and the ways in which we support our young people. His Royal Highness asked us about the challenges we faced in keeping the programmes going throughout the pandemic.
“The Earl also congratulated us on our recent success in winning the Youthwork Team of the Year at the Youth Link Awards.”
In the past two years in North Lanarkshire there have been 363 new young people taking part in the awards programme and there have been 145 full awards achieved.
The council is committed to removing any barriers to participation in the award that young people face, such as cost, equipment and transport. Young people aren’t charged for taking part in the awards programme in North Lanarkshire.
Laiba Khan, a pupil at Braidhurst High School who has recently completed her bronze award and is now going for silver, said: “The Earl asked us about the games we were taking part in and if they were very competitive!”
Shiza Ali, a pupil at Taylor High School, added: “The Earl asked us how we enjoyed taking part in the bronze award and if we were enjoying the expeditions.”
Another group of pupils shared their experiences of an overnight canoeing expedition on Loch Lomond and of camping on one of the islands on the loch.