We were delighted that 12 Old Suttonians, who had completed their Gold Duke of Edinburgh awards whilst at the School, were finally able to attend a reception in the gardens of Buckingham Palace on Friday 20th May to 'receive' their awards.

It was an extremely busy day with over 3000 participants in attendance. They had already been sent their awards, but this was an opportunity for them to hear inspirational talks from experts in adventurous activities (the Hunter Brothers and Sally Orange), careers (Dr Sabrina Cohen-Hatton and Kelly Hoppen) and alumni (Louise Minchin and Alice Beer). There was also a speech by His Royal Highness, the Duke of Wessex and DofE ambassadors Lira Lewis and Hannah Cockroft. In addition, the group was serenaded by the bands of The Royal Air Force Squadronaires and The Band of the Coldstream Guards.

Whilst the weather put something of a dampener on proceedings, it was still a fabntastic occasion and great to see so many Old Suttonians get together for their long-overdue DofE celebrations. Those in attendance were: Sophie Baxter (2019 S), Alice Busby (2020 F), Paige Davidson (2020 S), Lars Eastman (2019 W), Laurence Eastman (2018 W), Edward Ervine (2019 H), Alistair Gooding (2019 C), Georgie Mancais (2019 C), Toby Murch (2020 C), Harry O'Rawe (2019 H), Bethan Pepler (2020 L) and Chris Youngman (2016 M).