Megan Megahey, 21, is the latest member of her family to be awarded the prestigious Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s (DofE) Award which they all completed through Girlguiding.
Megan follows in the footsteps of both her mum and her grandmother who did the same in 1959 and 1990 respectively with Megan’s grandmother Gillian Watson, 85, being one of the very first girls in the country to achieve the Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award soon after the scheme was extended to girls in 1958.
To celebrate Megan’s achievement, she recently attended a Gold Award celebration event with her mum and grandmother hosted by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.
They were introduced to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh at the event held in the grounds of Buckingham Palace.
Megan was one of just a handful of young people to personally speak to The Duke at the event. During their exchange, The Duke said: “Three generations, really. Now that’s quite impressive!”
After the event, Megan, from Bromsgrove, said: “I feel super proud to be the third generation of my family to do this, and even prouder that we all completed it through Girlguiding.”
“My mum and my nan were very encouraging and it was their motivation that got me to keep pushing through.”
Grandmother Gillian is still involved in Girlguiding at a county level in Birmingham, while Megan is a co-leader of 188th Birmingham Brownies, a Kings Norton-based unit that her mum Hazel has run for the last 33 years. All the family have always been part of Girlguiding Birmingham.
Thousands of people attended the Gold Award celebration event which saw the Buckingham Palace garden transformed into a festival-style celebration on Friday 9 and Monday 12 May.
The celebration was one of four taking place over two days at the Palace, recognising over 8,000 young people who have shown extraordinary perseverance, creativity and resilience to complete their Gold DofE in schools, community organisations, youth groups and workplaces, all over the UK.
It was incredibly special for the three women to attend together, not only to celebrate Megan’s success but also to honour how much the Award means to the whole family.
“It was an absolute honour to have the privilege of meeting HRH Duke of Edinburgh and for him to take the time to hear our story,” said Megan’s mum Hazel, who completed her Gold Award in 1990 and lives in Bromsgrove.
“We were proud to not only be three generations to complete our Gold DofE but also to represent Girlguiding Birmingham which was the catalyst to us all gaining the Award.”
Buckingham Palace Garden underwent a transformation for the event and was decorated with giant deckchairs, bunting and featured garden games and activities.
The celebration saw HRH The Duke of Edinburgh – who received his own Gold Award from his father Prince Philip at nearby St James’s Palace in 1986 – congratulate attendees in a speech from the Palace’s West Terrace.
While Megan officially joined Girlguiding as a Rainbow at the age of five, she went on her first Brownie pack holiday while her mum Hazel Megahey was pregnant with her. It was the same for Hazel, 54, who also attended meetings when her Guide leader mum was pregnant with her.
Grandmother Gillian, from Wythall, says that taking part in the DofE award scheme is just one of countless opportunities that Girlguiding has given her over her lifetime.
“I’m so proud that Megan and Hazel have followed in my footsteps,” said Gillian, whose own mother was also a Guide leader. “Girlguiding is a way of life for me and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.
“There wasn’t much for girls to do in the 1950s and I thought the DofE Award sounded like a good challenge. I wasn’t interested in messing around and wanted to do something with a purpose.
“Still to this day Girlguiding gives girls a chance to be girls, and to be their own people."
Girlguiding has joined forces with DofE so its members can complete the fantastic challenge as part of their guiding experience.
The DofE Award is a voluntary, non-competitive programme of activities for young people aged 16 to 24. The Gold DofE Award is the highest level of the DofE program. It takes a minimum of 12 months to complete. Young people build their own programmes with activities in five sections – Physical, Skills, Volunteering, a five-day Residential and a four-day Expedition.
Attendees at the Gold Award celebration event also had the chance to hear from famous DofE Award holders and other inspiring speakers, with TV personality and chef Big Zuu, Olympic rower and Gold DofE Award holder Imogen Grant, SAS: Who Dares Wins star Jason Fox, The Traitors star Mollie Pearce and TV personality Dr Ranj Singh, speaking at stages throughout the garden.
During the celebration event Ruth Marvel OBE, CEO of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, said: “It’s a real honour and a privilege to be celebrating our amazing Gold Award holders in the Buckingham Palace Garden today. I’ve seen thousands of smiling faces and proud family members looking on – and rightfully so, as these young people have shown extraordinary perseverance, creativity and self-belief to be here. A Gold DofE Award will equip them with lifelong skills – and it’s wonderful to see our Award holders sharing their experiences, having fun, and discussing their plans for the future.
“Last year, over 342,000 young people started their DofE across the UK – the highest in our nearly 70 years of history. This shows just how much appetite there is amongst young people for enrichment opportunities beyond formal education. Together with our volunteers, partners and supporters, we want to reach 1.6 million young people by next spring - so that even more young people can take part in a life-changing DofE Award.”
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award recently announced record-breaking participation numbers, with 572,802 young people actively taking part in 2024/25, 342,412 young people starting their DofE – and participants contributing an astonishing 5.2 million hours of volunteering as part of their DofE activities.
For more information about joining Girlguiding, including volunteering roles and how to register interest, visit girlguiding.org.uk