Golden glory for BBs

Accolades for Livingston pair

Two young people from 5th Livingston Company, The Boys’ Brigade, had a special royal appointment recently.

Clark Lawson and Mairi Dalgleish were presented with Gold Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Award certificates at a special ceremony at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh earlier this month.

HRH Prince Edward, The Earl of Wessex, gave the royal seal of approval to Clark and Mairi as he spoke to them ahead of the awards ceremony.

John Swinney, Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, presented their certificates.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “I was honoured to present the members of The Boys’ Brigade with their awards. Achieving a Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award is a huge achievement and the result of a lot of hard work and dedication.

“They are all fantastic ambassadors for The Boys’ Brigade and their local communities.”

The Gold award is the highest accolade in the Duke of Edinburgh Awards programme which started in 1956.

The awards were set up to inspire, guide and support young people in their selfdevelopment and recognise their achievements.

Currently over 300,000 young people participate in DofE programmes each year.

Speaking after the awards ceremony, Bill Stevenson, Director of The Boys’ Brigade in Scotland said: “I am exceptionally proud of these young people and everything they have achieved to complete their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Awards.

“While working towards the award, they each undertook a lot of work, which at times was tough, but their resilience and dedication is highly commendable.”