A student who achieved the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award is aiming to help other youngsters follow in her footsteps.
Prince Edward presented Roseanne Murphy, 19, with the accolade during a ceremony at St James’s Palace in London.
But Roseanne, from Grimsargh, near Preston, fears that other young people from her area won’t be able to experience the same achievement, because Longridge Youth and Community Centre, where she completed the award, has had to cancel the scheme because of funding cuts.
She said: “The youth group isn’t able to run the Duke of Edinburgh in the same way any more, so I’m looking to help restart it.
“There were a lot of cuts to youth group funding so it’s only open three days a week now and they couldn’t fit it in.
“I know there is a lot of people who had nearly finished or wanted to start the award.
“I’m hoping to go back and do it on week nights. I’ve spoken to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award branch manager for the North West and he has sent me contact details to arrange it.”
Roseanne, who is in the second year of a bio-chemistry and genetics degree at Lancaster University, volunteered at the youth club in Berry Lane, Longridge, near Preston, with children aged five to 11 and 11 to 13.
She also completed a five-day expedition in the Lake District in order to gain the award.
She said: “It was good fun. The award ceremony was brilliant.
“It was nice after putting in all the work to do it.
“It was great to see how many people were there and there was another girl from our group called Rachel Dickinson.
“Prince Edward was a genuinely nice guy, he talked to me about the fact I had done it through the youth group.”
Roseanne’s mum, Elaine Murphy, of Winter Hill Close, Grimsargh, near Preston, managed to get the day off work to go down to London with her daughter.
Elaine said: “Prince Edward actually spoke to her, which was really nice and made the day extra special.
“We’re very proud of her. She is a real go-getter type.”
Mary Stones, who manages the centre, said it had lost a lot of staff in recent years and could no longer offer the award scheme to everybody who wanted to do it.
She said parts of the course could now be done online, but that the expedition element could prove expensive as external support from County Hall would be needed.
She said: “To keep costs down we’re hoping to get some of the old groups to come back to support the expedition.
“It’s a nice gesture by Roseanne - we’ve got some really good people at Longridge Youth Club.”
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