Duke presents awards at Hillsborough Castle
by STACEY HEANEY

Laura with her mum Jayne at the recent Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award Ceremony held at Hillsborough Castle.	Jane and her mother at the steps to Buckingham Palace after the award ceremony in 1973.

THERE was special delight for one local mother and daughter recently when they attended the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme Gold presentation at Hillsborough Castle.

Laura Johnston, who lives in Hillsborough, was honoured to receive her Gold Award Prince Philip.

The event, however, brought back many memories for her mother Jayne, who received the same award - again from the Duke - at Buckingham Palace 35 years before.

Jayne explained: "I got mine at Buckingham Palace in 1973. When we received ours it was at the height of the troubles and they made a special point for us by holding the ceremony in London, however Hillsborough is much nicer than Buckingham Palace, it's more relaxed."

She continued, "When we were at the ceremony someone mentioned to the Duke that I was a Gold Award holder and he was particularly interested to hear about it. He seemed intrigued to hear that he had personally presented my award to me."

Jayne, 53, was 19 when she received her Award, having completed it through the Fort Hill Awards Scheme when she was a pupil at Fort Hill College. She has spent 35 years working in the Royal Victoria Hospital, where she currently holds a senior position in Paediatric Cardiology.

21-year-old Laura obtained her Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards through the Lisburn District Scouts Open Award Centre, associated with Harmony Hill Presbyterian Church.

As part of her award Laura studied fire service for her Community Service, completed team work on expedition in Donegal, passed her driving test for Skill and undertook running for her Physical Recreation. She has also recently completed her BSc Hons Degree in Geography at Queen's University, Belfast and is now hoping to take another degree in Quantity Surveying.

Jayne spoke of her delight for her daughter, "I was very excited for her. It's an excellent award to have and it looks good on a CV," she said.

"It was five years of hard work of service and activities, hut it's really worth it."

stacey.heaney@jpress.co.uk

Ulster Star
11/07/2008