Buckingham Palace party with Olympic gold medallist for Penwortham girls

Megan Rigby, 18 and Amy Dwyer and Katie McVeigh, both 17, partied with the Countess of Wessex and Greg Rutherford at Buckingham Palace as they received their gold award.

The three members of Fifth Penwortham Space Monkeys spent three years working towards the award and Megan said she loved her visit to the palace.

“It was an amazing experience as Greg was very inspirational especially as I have always had a keen interest in athletics,” she said.

“He spoke about how he overcame injuries and never gave up on his goal to become an Olympic gold medallist, comparing his setbacks and challenges to what we may have faced throughout our awards.

“The palace was beautiful and I felt honoured to receive my award there and speak to the Countess of Wessex.”

The girls, from Penwortham and Longton had to first achieve their bronze and silver awards before embarking on a gruelling 12 months completing five skills.

These included learning to drive, weekly swimming sessions, volunteering at Barnardo’s and a camping expedition in the Yorkshire Dales testing their survival skills, carrying everything they needed including food, tents and clothes for four days and nights.

Megan said: “It felt incredible to complete all sections as it took lots hard work and effort to overcome the challenges we faced together as a team, with the support from our leaders.

“Especially after our expedition in the Yorkshire Dales in bad weather.”