A geography teacher and Duke of Edinburgh award leader in Bassingbourn has visited Buckingham Palace to receive her own ‘gold’ award.

Royston Crow: Bassingbourn Village College teacher Rachel Ward gets her gold Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace.Bassingbourn Village College teacher Rachel Ward gets her gold Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace. (Image: Archant)

Bassingbourn Village College teacher Rachel Ward has made many treks in all sorts of weathers in her Duke of Edinburgh award role, but her latest expedition was a little more glamorous.

She said: ”It was definitely a day to remember. I met Prince Edward Earl of Wessex, gymnast Louis Smith and the Ice Maidens, who are attempting to be the first all-female group to cross Antarctica unaided.

“The grounds of Buckingham Palace are extensive and we spent hours exploring with other award holders sharing stories of our expeditions.”

Rachel has worked her way through the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme during school and university – and now leads the Bassingbourn Village College students through their own challenges.

She added: “For my award I became involved with amateur dramatics, community projects and worked in Slovakia with young people.”

For more on the leading youth achievement award scheme, for anyone aged between 14 and 24 go to www.dofe.org.