A SCOUT member from Holsworthy has achieved the Queen’s Scout Award, the highest award a young person can get in scouting, after completing a series of activities.

To achieve this award, Dan Marks needed to complete all the activities set out under the Gold Duke of Edinburgh award.

The Gold DofE award activities Dan completed included 18 months of volunteering with the 1st Holsworthy Beaver Scouts.

His accolades also included six months’ physical training before running the Eden Project’s half marathon in October 2015.

He spent twelve months coaching skill-cricket with the Holsworthy Cricket Club, this included setting up a youth academy so that young people could play cricket in Holsworthy.

Dan also took part in residential trips including, a five day residential trip to Brownsea Island, Poole, Dorset to carry out conservation work with the RSPB and a four day and three night expedition to Brecon Beacon National Park in Wales where he worked as part of a team of four people from across Torridge.

Dan said the hardest task in the award as the expedition itself was difficult and it required a lot of training leading up to the event.

Alongside completing the Gold DofE award Dan was required to take part in six international, environment and values (IEV) activities and scouting events for ages 16 to 25 – spending at least 18 nights away on things like sleepovers, jamborees and summer camps.