Five young people in Thurrock attended a Buckingham Palace garden party in May to celebrate completing their gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award (DofE).
The award scheme, which has been running since 1956, encourages young people aged 14 to 24 to take part in a number of activities to develop their personal, physical and volunteering skills in preparation for adult life. Participants progressed through their bronze and silver awards before culminating in the gold award, as part of Thurrock Council's DofE licence.
Councillor Barry Johnson, Cabinet Member for Children's Social Care and Education, said: "On behalf of the council I offer a huge congratulations to Tommy Foy, Ted Hillebrandt, Megan Fresquez, Kelsey Olive and Rosie Falzon for achieving their gold DofE awards this year.
"Completing the award is a huge testament to the strength, determination and strong will of our young people, who as part of their awards have volunteered to good causes in our borough for a total of 21 months each, which is an outstanding achievement.
"I encourage all our young people to consider taking part in the DofE award and how it could benefit them and help them to develop personal discipline, resilience and leadership and teamwork skills, amongst many others."
The scheme is run by Inspire Youth Hub at the Stanford Youth Centre. For more information, go to thurrock.gov.uk/dofe