Duke of Edinburgh peak for Stella

Debating at the Beehive, hiking in Abel Tasman and Kahurangi National Parks, and volunteering, have led Stella Bloomfield to strike gold.

The Year 13 Nayland College student was recently awarded the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award after many months of making headway.

The accolade, named after the late Prince Philip, equips rangatahi (young people) for promising futures by challenging them to develop personal capabilities.

The gold level is divided into five sections including voluntary service, physical recreation, and skills, which must be carried out for an hour each week.

It also included an adventurous journey and a week-long residential project.

After achieving silver in March last year, Stella set off on her gold journey in May 2023 upon her return from an exchange to Chile through her Spanish class at Nayland.

Her physical recreation round included hiking, tramping and rock climbing, along with debating in the regional and national competitions for her skills and volunteering on the Nelson Youth Council and the Nayland Primary School breakfast club for her voluntary service.

Stella’s adventurous journey and residential project round were fulfilled by the Aotearoa Adventure Programme through Whenua Iti Outdoors.

She says it was “amazing” to obtain gold status after her exploits.

“I was pretty happy, it was an awesome experience to get that recognition and to see the end result of my goals and hard work for two years,” she says.

“I know that I can go into a room of people that I’ve never met before and connect with them, and [the award is] going to be really helpful for me to always be able to get out into the outdoors as I move on to university.

“I think it’s probably the best opportunity I’ve ever been given… it’s a wonderful way to make so many connections and get so many opportunities. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone to give it a go.”