Celebrating inspiring Award volunteers worldwide

100 Award volunteers from around the world are recognised for their outstanding support to young people through The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award

From Fiji to Finland and the United States to Uganda; on Sunday 5 December, as the world marks International Volunteer Day, some of the Award’s most inspiring volunteers from around the world will be receiving a special delivery from an unlikely source – a royal prince.

To mark the centenary of our Founder, HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the Award is celebrating just some of the volunteers who tirelessly support young people through their Award journey every day. In recognition of the exceptional work, 100 volunteers will receive a letter of commendation from HRH Prince Edward – Prince Philip’s son and Chairman of the International Award Foundation – and a special commemorative coin marking the life and legacy of The Duke, produced by the Royal Mint in the UK.

“Volunteers are the lifeblood of the Award and every day they inspire almost a million young people across 130 countries and territories to discover their infinite potential. As young people face new and unseen challenge and change, the need to support them to develop resilience, adaptability, problem solving and strong mental and physical habits has never been greater,” says John May, Secretary General of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation.

May continues, “As we mark International Youth Day, we want to say a huge thank you to the almost 200,000 volunteers who are working selflessly to support young people in their communities around the world. Thank you. Individually, your impact can be life-changing. Collectively, it can be transformative.”

Clare Maclennan, Director of Commemorative Coin at The Royal Mint, said: “The Duke of Edinburgh and The Royal Mint enjoyed a close relationship for many years, with The Prince serving as President of The Royal Mint Advisory Committee from 1952 until 1999. As such, we were delighted to create a coin celebrating the legacy of this remarkable man, and to support the work of the charity by gifting 100 coins to 100 incredible volunteers.”

Read more about some of our inspirational volunteers who are receiving this recognition: Nesha Hutchinson, Australia and Esther Mureke-Kuria, Kenya.