Thread by @Telegraph

🏆The Duke of Edinburgh Award was founded 65 years ago and now operates in over 130 countries around the world.

Former participants recall the day they met the Duke of Edinburgh and the profound impact the award scheme had on their lives

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🗣️“When [the Duke] talked to me, he was genuinely interested in what I had to say,” says Rachel Barton, who received her Gold Award in 2000.

“It wasn’t like this was a process for him that he had to hurry through – there was no rush for him”

💬“When my mum – who had completed the award 20 years previously – was talking, he was focused on her,” Barton says.

“I firmly believe in this award,” she says. “It really does help you grow as a person”

Raphael Oyelade had polio as a child and from the age of 12 has used crutches for walking.

🥇At 17, he decided to skip the Bronze and Silver awards and dived straight into the Gold qualification

Oyelade met the Duke in 2015 when he was invited to Frogmore House to give a speech to DofE donors.

🗣️“In order to stand up and give my speech comfortably, I needed my crutches. So I looked around for them and they weren’t there,” he says

💬“I turned back to my wife to say something and she said, ‘Raph, look.’ I turned around and the Duke himself had gone to the side of the room and collected my crutches for me and brought them to me.

“I was flabbergasted. He must have been 93 at this time”

🏆Jean Simpson completed the DofE through the Guides in 1970.

“I remember it vividly,” Simpson says of the day she collected her award. “He asked me if I worked and I said, ‘No, I’m in college.’

“He said: ‘Is that not work?’ And I’ve never forgotten”

💬Jean Simpson was surprised by his wit but also by his being “so interested in us, in anybody – he had the personal touch,” she says.

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