Former Warwick School pupil gets Duke of Edinburgh Award - aged 70!

A past pupil has returned to Warwick School to receive his Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award from the headmaster – at the age of 70!
Nigel Robinson receives his DofE Gold Award from headmaster Dr Deneal Smith.Nigel Robinson receives his DofE Gold Award from headmaster Dr Deneal Smith.
Nigel Robinson receives his DofE Gold Award from headmaster Dr Deneal Smith.

Nigel Robinson, a director of Newsline PR in Leamington, was one of the first boys to enter the award scheme when the school introduced it in 1963.

Having achieved both bronze and silver, he completed the gold in June 1966 but left school before getting it signed off by the headmaster. He said: “There was so much going on that summer – A-level revision, exams, job interviews, leaving school and, of course, England winning the World Cup.”

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It wasn’t until sailing up the Norwegian fjords last year that he decided to find his book and apply for the award.

“I had carried out my gold award expedition on top of snow-capped mountains in Norway with 
David Summers, who became the school’s first recipient of the gold award. We were stationed with the Royal Norwegian Army and last year, for the first time, I returned to Stavanger and the memories flooded back.”

He eventually found it in a box of memorabilia and the school’s DofE Award coordinator, Heather Bowie, passed it on to the DofE operations office, who duly approved it and posted him the certificate and the badge. Nigel said: “Unfortunately, unlike David, I wasn’t invited to the palace to receive the award– I think they were concerned that if I bowed I might not be able to straighten up again!”