Skip to content

Six Kootenay youth to get Duke of Edinburgh award from Lieutenant Govenor

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award will celebrate six recipients from Fernie, Sparwood and Cranbrook this week.

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award will celebrate six recipients from Fernie, Sparwood and Cranbrook this week.

An award ceremony will be held Friday, Sept. 6 at 2 p.m. at the Royal Alexandra Hall in Cranbrook. The Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia will be presenting the awards.

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award encourages anyone between the ages of 14 and 24 to participate in an international award. It gives youth the opportunity to get more involved in their community, to make new friends, to get physically fit and to discover an activity that excites and inspires them as well as participate in an adventurous journey that they will remember for a lifetime. They learn to set goals and achieve results in a fun and challenging and non-competitive way and then get recognized for their achievements.

"We are so pleased to have Kyra Robin von Matt from Sparwood, Hannah and Jodi Thomson, Olivia Roberts, Emma Roberts  from Fernie, Ashley Wood from Cranbrook receive their Award in their community with friends and family there to celebrate their efforts," said Umeeda Switlo, executive director of the Duke Of Edinburgh's Award BC Yukon Division.

"We encourage community members to become leaders or mentors and support youth in their journey. Lea Thompson from Fernie led the Elk Valley girls towards their Bronze Award. We can't thank her enough. The reports that the girls produced were exemplary,

"We are excited to have Teck sponsor our work in the Kootenay region which enables local youth to enroll in the program at no cost. We welcome the youth in the Kootenays to the award and hope they will take the opportunity to participate in an internationally recognized Award that also allows them to get high school credits."

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award invites adults and youth who are interested to attend the ceremony in Cranbrook and learn about how we can all work together with our youth in Making a Difference.