A former South Hams student joined more than 1,500 other young people at Buckingham Palace last week to receive their Duke of Edinburgh Awards in the presence of TRH The Earl and Countess of Wessex and HRH The Princess Royal.

James Fricker, a former student at Ivybridge Community College, was invited to the palace to receive his Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. As well as being a day to remember for James, it was a trip down memory lane for his mum, Sue Fricker, who previously worked as the Gold Award Officer for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and whose role was to organise presentations such as this.

The presentations took place in the Palace garden. The certificates were presented by a host of celebrities, including Mary Berry, Paul Hollywood, David Mitchell, Alexandra Burke, Aled Jones and Warwick Davis.

James started working towards his Gold Award whilst studying at Ivybridge Community College and then completed it at the University of Warwick where he is currently in his second year reading for a degree in German and History.

To achieve his Award James volunteered at the St Luke’s Hospice shop in Ivybridge for 18 months, played clarinet in both the College Wind Band and the Devon Youth Wind Orchestra, took part in a week’s conservation project at Tewkesbury Abbey for his residential, played tennis at the Ivybridge Tennis Centre and undertook a five-day expedition in the Lake District.

James said: ‘It was such a special way to celebrate everyone’s achievement and something I will remember for the rest of my life.”