TWO young people from the Okehampton area are among those due to be honoured this week for completing the gold stage of the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme.

Exeter College student Artemis Crowley from Gidleigh, and Stacey Dufty from Bratton Clovelly and the Okehampton Open Award Group will be among the 39 young people from Devon to be presented with their awards by Sir John Evans, the Deputy Lord-Lieutenant of Devon, at a ceremony at County Hall in Exeter on Saturday.

Attending the ceremony will be Helen Jenny, chair of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme in Devon, Devon County Council's head of child and adult protection Rory McCallum and Cllr Stuart Barker, cabinet member with responsibility for the youth service.

The DofE is a personal development programme undertaken as part of leisure time activities. It challenges young people between the ages of 14 and 25 to serve others, acquire new skills, experience adventure, and make new friends —young and old. There are currently 7,800 young people in Devon registered.

The scheme is run under a licence held by Devon County Council and is delivered through more than 70 groups in Devon, including many schools, colleges, youth clubs and voluntary organisations in West Devon.

County councillor Stuart Barker said: 'Congratulations to these remarkable young people for achieving this fantastic accolade.

'I am delighted that so many young people from across Devon have been involved in this superb scheme.

'The personal skills they have will be invaluable as they move forward to further education, employment and training, as well as helping local communities, charities and voluntary groups.'