The Rona Trust provide sailing voyages for young people which count as Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award residentials. A number of Pembrokeshire participants have been and have been unstinting in their praise of the whole experience. For more information visit Rona Trust’s website at http://www.ronatrust.com/LSP2006/index.php?id=0

British Trust for Conservation Volunteers run excellent conservation holidays all over Britain which make ideal Gold Award residentials. For more information have a look at www.btcv.org/shop

This is likely to be the last year that Bob Inglesant runs his annual Gold Award Residential working in the orphanage at Baia Mare, Romania. If you are a Pembrokeshire Gold Award participant and would like to go, please email Bob on bob.sal@tiscali.co.uk

Every Pembrokeshire Award participant aged 16+ should register with Millennium Volunteers. Not only will you automatically get a MV certificate after 50 hours of voluntary work [which you do automatically when you do Gold and most Silver participants will too!] which will be a bonus for your CV, but you can also claim travel expenses for the journeys you make to and from your home to wherever you volunteer. Sign up by contacting Jean Morris at the Pembrokeshire Association of Voluntary Services (PAVS) office on 01437 769422.

Happy new year! Dave Sommerville has just sent through the following two dates for your diaries:

• Open Gold Expedition – Isle of Mull, Scotland 9-15 July 2008
• Open Gold Expedition – Co. Donegal, Ireland 24-30 August 2008

The point of these open expeditions is for those candidates within the county that for some reason don’t have a nearby/suitable DOE centre to join in with. You get mixed up with a group of people you may never have met – this is sometimes an extra challenge but can also be great fun! PLEASE NOTE: These trips are for candidates resident in Pembrokeshire only; I’m afraid those of you who read this site from further afield will need to find an expedition group in your local area. The offical DOE website can help if you’re in this situation.