East Dunbartonshire Provost pays tribute to Prince Philip who has died, aged 99

The Queen’s husband passed peacefully on Friday morning at Windsor Castle, at the age of 99.

Provost Brown said on Friday: “I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, today.

"As Civic Head of East Dunbartonshire I will be sending my sincere condolences from the people of East Dunbartonshire, to Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal Family.

"Generations of young people from East Dunbartonshire have benefited from the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme over the years.

"Not only was he an inspirational and well-respected representative of the Royal Family, he was also a husband, father, grandfather and great- grandfather, and my thoughts are with all members of the Royal Family at this sad time.”

The Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) award – bronze, silver and gold - is an internationally recognised personal development programme and is open to any young person from the age of 14 to 25.

Three years ago in 2017, volunteers from across East Dunbartonshire who helped run The DofE at the Allander Open Awards Centre in Milngavie were among a number of instructors honoured for their long service by the Queen and Prince Philip’s soungest son The Earl of Wessex Prince Edward at a special ceremony in Holyrood Palace.

Milngavie’s Community Education Centre has been running the expedition part of the DofE Scheme for more than 25 years, putting thousands of youngsters through their paces preparing them for the challenges of the great outdoors.

Alison Higham from Milngavie was one of the group who received a long service certificate for more than 20 years of service.

At the time, she told the Herald: “One of the main things about the DofE award is that it helps build team building skills especially in the expedition section as the group need to work as a team to complete their expedition and these are such useful skills for the future.”

The DofE has expanded over the years and there is now a Kirkintilloch Open Award Centre centre as well as six secondary schools taking part in the scheme – Kirkintilloch High, Turnbull High, Bishopbriggs Academy,Lenzie Academy, Douglas Academy, Bearsden Academy and Boclair Academy.

There are three levels of achievement: Bronze, Silver and Gold, each containing aspects of:

Learning new skills

Learning to engage in a healthy lifestyle

Committing time to help others in the community

Undertaking an adventurous journey as part of a team

Residential element (Gold level).

A young person can work through all three levels or can enter directly at any level as long as they fit the minimum age criteria..

Kirkintilloch AOAC is based within Hillhead Community Centre, 169 Meiklehill Road, Kirkintilloch G66 2JT.

Interest and demand for the award is growing year on year. Most units within East Dunbartonshire have had to create a waiting list for the programme.