We had some well-known faces, along with some of our 2023-24 cohort of Youth Ambassadors joining our This is Youth judging panels. Get to know them below.
Jay Blades MBE and Thomas J
Jay Blades MBE photo credit: Amy Braithwaite
Award-winning presenter, Jay Blades MBE is the nation’s favourite furniture up-cycler who inspires individuals, companies and charities to transform old furniture into works of contemporary design. Jay is the host of BBC One’s primetime heart-warming show The Repair Shop and this year we have seen him host Britain’s Best Beach Huts for Channel 4 and East End Through Time for Channel 5.
Last year saw Jay release two documentaries, Jay Blades: Learning to Read at 51 on BBC One and Jay Blades: No Place Like Home on Channel 5. In 2021, Jay starred in Jay’s Yorkshire Workshop for BBC Two. In addition to presenting, Jay spends a large amount of time working on furniture projects for commercial and individual clients, running workshops and motivating disadvantaged people across the community. Jay is a proud ambassador of The Prince’s Foundation (set up by King Charles), City & Guilds (set up by Princess Anne, which helps young people access the crafts industry), Heritage Crafts (where he honours the work of craftsmanship up and down the country) and will be a judge for Duke Of Edinburgh Award and V&A Museum – to help young adults get the recognition they deserve with their submitted innovative designs.
Jay is also a chancellor at Buckinghamshire New University (which helped to identify his dyslexia when he enrolled as a mature student aged 51). This year The Repair Shop won ‘Best Daytime’ at the National Television Awards; in addition to scooping up awards at this year’s Royal Television Society and BAFTA TV Awards. In 2022, Jay was awarded an MBE for his Services to Craft and invited to the King’s Coronation as a special guest. Most recently Jay attended Dumfries House with King Charles to host a Q&A talk on sustainability.
Thomas describes his DofE as a transformative experience. What he’s seen and learnt along the way has given him a sense of gratitude and a desire to give back to others. Bronze Volunteering was for an online organisation called Missing Maps, where he helped to map locations at risk of natural disasters or crises to support future humanitarian aid missions. This opened his eyes to the challenging conditions people are subjected to across the globe. For Silver he baked cakes for a small charity called Little Bakers, with money raised supporting families in Ukraine.
The Silver Expedition took Thomas out of the city into the Brecon Beacons, where he discovered a love for the outdoors and the breath-taking mountain views. He had a realisation about how much better he felt without the reliance of his phone and has now phased social media out of his life. Inspired, Thomas now plans on undertaking a pilgrimage across Spain which is a gruelling 23 kilometres per day for 35 days.
Tanni, Baroness Grey-Thompson DBE, DL & Gracie
DofE Chair of Trustees and Paralympian, Tanni, Baroness Grey-Thompson DBE, DL made her sporting debut at the Junior National Games for Wales in 1984. Her international career began in 1988 in Seoul, where she won a bronze medal in the 400m. Her fifth and last Paralympic Games were in Athens (2004) where she won two gold medals in wheelchair racing in the 100m and 400m. Over her career, Tanni won a total of 15 Paralympic medals, including 11 golds, held over 30 world records and won the London Marathon six times between 1992 and 2002. She is a Member of the Laureus World Sports Academy.
Since her retirement, Tanni has continued to be involved in sport and physical activity as a trustee and member of a number of sporting charities and organisations. She is the Chair of Trustees for The Duke of Edinburgh Awards. In 2010 Tanni became a Member of The House of Lords taking the title Baroness Grey-Thompson of Eaglescliffe in the County of Durham. Tanni uses her experience and knowledge during debates in the House and she has spoken on a range of issues including Disability Rights, Welfare Reform, and of course, sport.
Gracie has always been determined to take on any opportunities that come her way. DofE presented a new challenge, and through her Bronze and Silver Awards, she has learnt to never underestimate her own abilities. Gracie signed up to be a Fire Cadet for her Volunteering section. As someone who was not sporty, this was a huge step out of her comfort zone, but she has now completed search and rescue missions, scaled buildings on ladder drills and has worked her way up the ranks to hold the position of Watch Commander.
As one of the only females in a leadership role, Gracie wants to break the mould and inspire other female cadets to follow in her footsteps. She put her first aid training into practice when a member of her team was taken ill on Expedition and is campaigning to introduce first aid into the curriculum in her school. Gracie completed a British Sign Language course for her Bronze Skills section and hopes to be able to use this to break down barriers in communication for people with hearing difficulties.
Jason Fox and Poppy
Jason is a former special forces sergeant who is now a bestselling author, broadcaster and leading figure in mental health.
Having served in the Special Boat Service for over 20 years, Jason Fox is co-lead of Channel 4’s award-winning show SAS: Who Dares Wins, as well as co-host of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test on Fox TV in the US. Alongside this, he is the presenter and producer of critically acclaimed Channel 4 and Netflix documentaries, including Inside the Real Narcos and Return to Afghanistan.
Jason is the author of Sunday Times bestselling books Battle Scars and Life Under Fire and is also an explorer and adventurer. Some of his bigger adventures include rowing across the Atlantic Ocean from Lagos, Portugal to Macuro, Venezuela in 2016 with four of his friends, an expedition to the North Pole and kayaking the length of the Yukon river.
Poppy chose to do DofE because she wanted to push herself and discover what she was capable of. She spent a lot of time trying to fit in and saw DofE as a chance to feel more positive about herself and find her own path. As she has progressed through the Awards, she has tried activities including running, cooking, fencing, yoga, crochet, and Volunteering as an NHS Cadet. She has also set herself a long-term goal of running a marathon! Poppy is passionate about nature and took part in a conservation project in the Peak District for her Gold Residential. Her team measured peat bogs and discovered how bracken is invading the countryside and reducing biodiversity. They also visited farms and learnt how to take care of the animals. Poppy loves spending time outdoors, reading books and playing musical instruments. Poppy’s advice for anyone thinking of doing the DofE, is to make it into something personal to you and find activities that you have always wanted to try. You will feel a greater sense of accomplishment when you succeed.
Nina Wadia OBE and Ved
Nina Wadia OBE won awards and acclaim starring in the UK drama, EastEnders and as a co-founder of the breakout BBC hit show Goodness Gracious Me. Nina has also appeared in numerous other TV shows including Doctor Who, Death in Paradise, Still Open All Hours with David Jason, Skins, Waking the Dead and The Vicar of Dibley. Her varied film career ranges from working with Michael Winterbottom and Tim Robbins in Code 46 to starring in the Bollywood hit Namastey London and Disney’s Aladdin with Will Smith.
Nina’s deep roots in theatre include her love for Shakespeare, working with Mark Rylance in Macbeth and Philip Madoc in The Tempest. Other notable credits include the Tony Award-winning Vagina Monologues and Olivier and Tony Award-winning playwright Michael Frayn’s Matchbox Theatre. Nina will be starring as Fairy Sugarsnap in Jack and the Beanstalk at Theatre Royal York this Christmas.
Her most recent shows include Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series for Netflix, Mel & Sue’s Hitmen, Stephen Merchant’s comedy drama The Outlaws with Christopher Walken and UKTV Gold’s Newark, Newark.
Nina is a Bronze Award holder.
Ved is a musician and has explored this passion further through his DofE. For Bronze, he volunteered for a charity called Kissing it Better, working to end the isolation of old age by bringing generations together. Ved recorded videos of him playing saxophone and sent them off to care homes. The response he received was overwhelmingly positive and it was gratifying to know he was able to make a difference. He plays in the jazz orchestra and is now working on composing and arranging his own pieces for his Silver skill section. Through repeated practice and a dedication to build his experience, Ved’s dream is to one day have his own touring jazz band! Ved wants to create pathways for young people to get into music through their DofE Award, as he knows first-hand the benefits this can bring. Ved’s advice for someone about to start their own Award is to take it one week at a time, set small attainable goals which you can work towards, and take pride in the progress you are making.
Alan Titchmarsh MBE DL and Lauren
While best known as a gardener, writer, novelist and broadcaster, Alan Titchmarsh is also an accomplished concert presenter having hosted the BBC Proms and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s Christmas celebrations. His own writings and poems – collected together in the books Fill My Stocking and Marigolds, Myrtle and Moles – have been used in such diverse presentations as ‘Carols from Kings’ and ‘With Great Pleasure’. The Glorious Garden, an album of Alan’s poetry with music by Debbie Wiseman, was voted to number 4 in the Classic FM Hall of Fame 2022.
In 2012 Alan hosted The World Comes to Windsor celebrating The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and in 2016 he was a part of The Queen’s 90th Birthday Celebrations. 2014 saw Alan’s West End theatre debut as Kenneth Grahame in The Royal Ballet’s production of The Wind in the Willows. On television Alan has presented such diverse programmes as Ground Force, British Isles a Natural History, Pop Star to Opera Star and Elizabeth – Her Life, Our Times. The Alan Titchmarsh Show was broadcast on ITV for eight years, and the twelfth series of Love Your Garden appeared on ITV this spring. Alan has a regular Saturday morning Show on Classic FM and hosts Love Your Weekend on Sunday mornings on ITV. When not doing this sort of thing, he is still happy gardening, helping to juggle four grandchildren, enjoying stage musicals, most theatre, ballet and opera. He lives in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
Sport has always played an important role in Lauren’s life. She was able to focus on her passion through her Physical and Volunteering sections, playing hockey competitively for her club and developing her coaching skills to inspire juniors who were new to the game. Sport has also helped Lauren through hard times, giving her a positive outlet to focus on. The bond she has with her teammates, both on and off the pitch, has been invaluable. For her Skill section, Lauren pursued her interest in the cyber industry by building website content and continues to push boundaries when it comes to women in technology, by working on an app to promote in-home sustainability. Her determination is inspired by several female role models, including a chance encounter whilst on Expedition with a lady who was completing a charity hike, who shared her story of breaking her leg mid-way through the hike, recovering, and then continuing to reach her goal! This motivated Lauren and her group to never give up, and she applies this same attitude today to ensure she lives without regret.
Louise Minchin and Karolina
Louise Minchin is a journalist and former presenter of BBC Breakfast, writer and podcaster. She is an accomplished endurance athlete who has represented the GB team in her age-group in World and European Championships. Louise’s first book, Dare to Tri, was released in 2019 by Bloomsbury and charted her journey from the BBC Breakfast sofa to competing internationally in triathlon. Her new book, Fearless: Adventures with Extraordinary Women, was published by Bloomsbury in May 2023 and reflects her passion for celebrating women’s success. Louise was thrown into the Welsh castle for ITV’s I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here in Autumn 2021 and also competed in Celebrity MasterChef, coming runner up in the final. She is chair of the 2023 judging panel for the prestigious literary award, the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
Louise is a Bronze DofE Award holder.
Karolina first heard about DofE at school in Slovakia. At first, she didn’t really know what she was signing up for, but by saying ‘yes’, she has been able to open a whole world of new experiences. Having achieved her Bronze and Silver, she became an Ambassador for the Award back home, and since moving to the UK, has completed her Gold. Karolina credits the DofE with helping her to receive a scholarship to study in the UK and is currently doing Architecture at university in Scotland. Karolina took up knitting for her Skills section and progressed to join a club at school. She is now the President of her university’s knitting society and has used her passion to make a positive difference to other people’s lives, knitting broaches and bracelets which she sold to raise vital funds for people affected by the war in Ukraine. She also knitted 52 hats which she donated to the maternity unit at a local hospital for premature babies. Karolina recently featured in the DofE’s podcast ‘Navigating Now’ and is now continuing her DofE journey as a UK Youth Ambassador.
Hannah Cockroft OBE DL and Olivia
Hannah Cockroft OBE, DL is a British wheelchair racer and TV presenter.
Current holder of the 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1500 metre world records in the T34 classification and 100, 200, 400 and 800 metres Paralympic records, ‘Hurricane Hannah’ rose to prominence in athletics at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, in which she won two gold medals. Since then, Hannah’s career has seen her win five further Paralympic gold medals, alongside twelve World Championship golds, making her the most successful British athlete in athletics World Championship history in both the able-bodied and Paralympic teams.
Hannah presented a regular feature on BBC Countryfile at the beginning of 2019 and has appeared on shows such as The Great British Bake Off, Sport Relief Does Strictly Come Dancing, The Crystal Maze and Mastermind. At the postponed Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, she won gold in the 100m and 800m, breaking the 100m world record and the 800m Paralympic record in the process. Hannah won gold in the 100m 2022 Commonwealth Games, and the 100m and 800m in the 2023 World Championships.
Hannah is a Bronze Award holder.
Olivia knew that DofE was for her, having been on lots of camping trips with her dad, but she didn’t realise how impactful it would be on both her mental and physical health. Olivia’s Bronze Award was during lockdown, which was an isolating time. Inspired by Joe Wicks, she tried her own YouTube challenges. To begin with she used bags of sugar to complete the exercises but soon invested in her own set of weights. Olivia gradually noticed an improvement in her fitness levels and the regular repetition helped her get up and start the day. Now completing Silver, Olivia is spending time in the gym. Initially it was intimidating seeing the weights section packed out with males, but she made a conscious effort to focus on herself and is proud of her own achievements. Olivia also raised over £500 for cancer research through her Volunteering, taking on a 10K challenge. Her next goal is a half marathon, to continue raising money in memory of her dad. DofE has given Olivia a focus and goals to work towards and has a real belief in herself.
Sally Orange MBE and Olivia
Sally Orange MBE is a former British Army Major, multi-record-breaking adventure athlete, passionate mental health campaigner and inspirational speaker. She is the only person to complete a marathon on every continent dressed as different pieces of fruit. She has completed 8 full triathlons and 82 marathons (including 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 consecutive days). She has cycled in the 3000+ mile Race Across America (RAAM) and cycled the length of New Zealand and of Britain on 3 separate occasions. She has run the toughest footrace on earth, in the Sahara Desert, and run the length of Iceland. She has also rowed and swum the English Channel. She holds 6 Guinness World Records and 4 Invictus Games medals.
Sally served as a physiotherapist in the British Army for 22 years, including a tour of duty in Afghanistan treating severely injured casualties, and has volunteered for over 30 years, raising more than £800,000 for 50 charities. When she’s not undertaking record-breaking endurance achievements (often dressed in thoughtfully chosen costumes to raise a smile and start conversations around mental health), Sally is the focus of inspirational speaking engagements, attended by audiences of all ages. Everyone is captivated by the modest, engaging and approachable way she shares the mental health and resilience learnings she has gathered from a career in the British Army and decades of volunteering and undertaking gruelling physical challenges all over the world.
Sally is a Gold Award holder.
Olivia knew that DofE was for her, having been on lots of camping trips with her dad, but she didn’t realise how impactful it would be on both her mental and physical health. Olivia’s Bronze Award was during lockdown, which was an isolating time. Inspired by Joe Wicks, she tried her own YouTube challenges. To begin with she used bags of sugar to complete the exercises but soon invested in her own set of weights. Olivia gradually noticed an improvement in her fitness levels and the regular repetition helped her get up and start the day. Now completing Silver, Olivia is spending time in the gym. Initially it was intimidating seeing the weights section packed out with males, but she made a conscious effort to focus on herself and is proud of her own achievements. Olivia also raised over £500 for cancer research through her Volunteering, taking on a 10K challenge. Her next goal is a half marathon, to continue raising money in memory of her dad. DofE has given Olivia a focus and goals to work towards and has a real belief in herself.
