Gold award students complete hike

GROUP of Duke of Edinburgh’s gold award students in Pembrokeshire have just completed an impressive walk across the breadth of Wales. Starting on the West coast from Borth or Clarach, the students trekked in small groups for four days before reaching the English border at Anchor, Shropshire on Tuesday, July 22. As part of their 50-mile hike, the young people traversed the Cambrian Mountains, including the highest point at Plynlimon. The walk was part of their training for their Gold Expedition, which will take place in the Scottish Highlands next month. The 36 students were met every evening by a team from Pembrokeshire Youth – Pembrokeshire County Council’s youth development service – in case any of them needed support. Dave Sommerville, Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Manager, praised the students who walked the route in very warm conditions carrying all their kit themselves – which weighed an average of a quarter of their body weight. “Although it was training for their Gold Expedition, this walk in itself is an incredible achievement,” he said. The students were from Years 12 and 13 at Ysgol Bro Gwaun, Ysgol Dewi Sant, Sir Thomas Picton School, Tasker Milward School, Pembrokeshire College, and Greenhill School.