A GROUP of extraordinary young people from across North Ayrshire are celebrating achieving the highest possible honour in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme.

The gold quality achievements of 14 individuals from the area were honoured during a special

ceremony at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh last week.

They joined an elite list of 14-24 year olds from across Scotland who had successfully completed their Gold Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Award.

And they were all invited to the royal residence to be presented with their awards by HRH The Earl of Wessex.

This tremendous achievement was successfully completed by 14 local youngsters:

They are Beth Docherty, 20, from Ardrossan, Racheal Galliver, 18, from Dalry, Cameron Taylor, 18, from Irvine, Erin Mckenzie, 18, from Irvine, John

Shekleton, 19, from Irvine, Mhairi McFadyen, 22, from Irvine, Charis Mcleish, 24, from Kilwinning, Colette Paterson, 23, from Kilwinning, Liam Haining, 21, from Kilwinning, Luke Gibson, 20, from Kilwinning, Martin Kelso, 19, from Kilwinning, Nathaneal Kelly, 21, from Kilwinning, Courtney Bryce, 17, from Saltcoats and Dillion Agnew, 18, from Stevenston.

They were joined at the event by members of their family as well as representatives from the council,

including Provost Joan Sturgeon, Audrey Sutton (Head of Connected Communities) and Angela Morrell (Youth Services Manager).

On the day, the group shared their experiences of their DofE journeys - which took each of them between 12 to 24 months to achieve.

To reach this prestigious level, they each had to undertake a whole host of activities including volunteering, learning new skills, get involved in a sporting activity, taking part in a week-long residential challenge as well as planning and undertaking an expedition in the country.

Audrey Sutton said: “We should all be immensely proud of their outstanding achievements – I know I am.

“We would like to congratulate them for all the great work they have done in order to reach the top level.

“We would like to wish them well as they develop into young adults and we have no doubt that they will all go on to do great things – their awards are evident that they are capable of doing just that.”

Anyone wishing to get involved in North Ayrshire’s DofE programme should contact the Council’s Youth Services team on 01294 475916 for more information.