Last weekend,  a group of New-Bridge Integrated College Sixth Form Students completed their qualifying expedition to attain the Duke of Edinburgh Award.  Sixth Form student Oisin Haddow gave us an insight into his experience of the weekend.

‘We were required to walk through the mournes for three full days, and camp out for two nights. We could only bring with us what we could carry, and were left completely on our own.    All of our food had to be cooked on a trangia limiting what I ate to essentially pot noodles and cereal bars!  No external resources such as microwaves or tumble dryers were allowed!

The walks were long and enduring, heaving 20kg bags in the mud and pouring rain, getting little breaks and taking 6 or more hours to reach our next campsite. We had to camp in cold conditions, and  woke up to find frost on our tents both mornings!  After every walk, the first thing we did was  cook some food. There was a very friendly atmosphere around the site, with several other schools on site also undertaking their Duke of Edinburgh award.

At the end of each day, the sense of self pride was unrivalled, as I felt I had really accomplished something. It was definitely worthwhile doing the Duke of Edinburgh Award and I would definitely recommend it to  all prospective sixth form students.  I found it extremely rewarding and enjoyable.  It will also look great on my Ucas application and CV!”

Well done New-Bridge Duke of Edinburgh Team 2016.  See gallery for photos.