AFTER more than 20 years at the helm of Pembrokeshire’s Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme, co-ordinator Dave Sommerville has been recognised by the Award’s patron, HRH Prince Edward the Earl of Wessex, for supporting so many young people in their achievements.

Dave was presented with a certificate by the Earl of Wessex at a recent regional DofE event, thanking him for his part in inspiring and guiding young people in their self-development.

Many thousands of young people have completed the scheme with Dave’s encouragement and support, said Steve Davis, manager of the youth service at Pembrokeshire County Council.

“He is completely dedicated to young people’s education and development,” said Steve. “It’s to his credit that Pembrokeshire has the second best performing DofE scheme of any local authority in Wales - which is significant given that we are not the biggest authority.”

Dave completed a gold award in his youth and got so much out of it that he went on to volunteer for the scheme for five years before beginning working with DofE pupils in the former Pupil Referral Unit in 1996. After two years, he became the co-ordinator for the whole of Pembrokeshire.

“I always wanted to volunteer for the scheme, but I never imagined I would do it as a job, and never for this long!” he said. “It’s great. If you find a job you love, you never do a day’s work in your life.”

He says he is a big supporter of the award.

“The scheme itself is wonderful, and having done it myself, I do genuinely believe it’s doing people good,” he said. “In all the years I have done this, I have literally not had anyone say to me ‘This is a waste of time’.”

He added: “It’s also interesting how the scheme inspires people in different ways. One of our Gold DofE participants from 1999, Victoria James, went on to become the first Welsh woman to climb Everest. Of course, most will not go on to climb Everest! But for many of them, it might encourage them to go and try things they hadn’t considered before.”

Clr. David Simpson, leader of Pembrokeshire County Council, congratulated Dave and said: “As a gold award holder, I understand the hard work and commitment that Dave has put into the running and co-ordinating of the scheme.

“Without dedicated people like this, many thousands of youngsters would not enjoy the inspirational experiences that the award gives.”