Twenty-year-old Alex Underwood from Narberth, Wales, stepped into the Buckingham Palace Garden on May 20 wearing the confidence of someone who has learned to believe in himself. Surrounded by thousands of young people celebrating their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards, Alex met Prince Edward, the Award's patron, and shared a moment that felt like a culmination of far more than just twelve months of personal development work.

The Gold DofE Award matters because it represents something increasingly rare: a structured pathway for young people to build genuine resilience, discover hidden talents, and emerge changed. Over 9,000 young people earned their Gold Award this year alone, recognised across four festival-style celebrations at Buckingham Palace. But Alex's story carries particular weight because he overcame something many would have accepted as a limit: his learning disability.

When Alex began his DofE at Portfield School in Haverfordwest, he was apprehensive. He wondered if his additional needs would hold him back. Instead, with the right support from his DofE Leader and teachers, he found his way through each section. For his Physical achievement, he developed fitness through Puffins Disability Swimming Squad at his local leisure centre. His Volunteering took him to a charity shop, where he sorted stock, priced items, and greeted customers—small acts that built his confidence in how he could contribute. His Skills section led him to a dairy farm, where hands-on agricultural work sparked something deeper: a direction for his studies.

When Prince Edward asked Alex what stood out most, the answer was immediate and honest: "The expedition was my favourite. We went in dry and came out wet." It's the kind of detail that reveals everything—the willingness to be uncomfortable, to try, to emerge transformed.

That expedition mattered. By the time Alex left Buckingham Palace that afternoon, he had earned three Gold Awards (Bronze, Silver, and Gold), become a DofE Cymru Youth Ambassador spreading the message across Wales, and won the Pembrokeshire Association of Voluntary Services Young Volunteer of the Year 2025 Award. He was also heading to Ruskin Mill to continue building skills through new experiences. "I believe that completing DofE gave me confidence in my abilities," he told Prince Edward. The Duke offered hearty congratulations.

Alex's journey echoes a larger story unfolding across the UK. Last year, 345,000 young people started their DofE—the highest annual begins in the Award's 70-year history. Globally, since 1956, the scheme has reached over 15.5 million young people. In the UK alone, 8.8 million have participated—enough to fill Wembley Stadium 98 times over.

But numbers flatten something essential about what the Award does. It offers permission to fail, space to experiment, and evidence that people are capable of more than they imagined. That's why Alex now encourages other pupils with additional needs to join. "DofE is for everyone," he says simply, "and can help them build new skills." It's advice rooted not in inspiration or sentiment, but in lived proof that the right challenge, met with the right support, doesn't limit you—it frees you.