Golden reward for action-packed efforts

By Wendy Shaw

An adventure on a sailing ship, volunteering with St Vincent de Paul and some high adrenaline activities in the Bay of Fires are just a few of the highlights of Duncan Suttil’s Duke of Edinburgh’s Award experiences.

Year 12 Guilford Young College student Duncan, 18, of Lower Snug, has now completed his bronze, silver and gold awards over the past four action-packed years.

He was presented with the prestigious gold award at a ceremony at Government House, Hobart, on 25 November.

Along the way Duncan said he had learned about time management, team building and tackling new challenges with perseverance and enthusiasm.

“It teaches people to be consistent, learn new skills, keep physically fit and mentally active,” Duncan added.

“It helps build independence, from adolescence to young adulthood. It also brings an appreciation for new things. For example, for the bronze award I volunteered at Vinnies and that gave me some new perspective about the charity.”

Duncan thanked teacher Marcelle Ottaway, of St Aloysius Catholic College, Huntingfield, for her support, encouragement and guidance, particularly during his bronze and silver awards, and throughout COVID-19 restrictions in 2020.

Duncan, who hopes to study mechatronics engineering at university in Melbourne next year, stressed that the awards were accessible to all, and he urged more young people to tackle them.

Guilford Young College principal Craig Deayton said: “A gold award is a very significant achievement involving many hours of voluntary work, adventure skills and new endeavours undertaken over a number of years.”