Six former young offenders had the chance to prove they had turned their lives around yesterday after they became only the second group of former prisoners in Bermudian history to earn Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Awards.

Former Co-educational Facility inmates Lindon Bartrum, 20, Sherwon Ible, 18, Marekco Ratteray, 19, Kirk Simmons, 20, and Devon Simons, 19, were all smiles as they were applauded by Premier Alex Scott when Governor Sir John Vereker presented them with their awards at Government House.

Not present to receive their awards were Jessie Mills, 20, and Michael Benjamin, 21, although the latter's mother Wanda was on hand to receive it in his place.

"I'm so proud of them," said Duke of Edinburgh programme coordinator at the Co-ed Facility Vince Minors. "This was a very rough and rugged group. For them to actually take part in it was something big but once they got involved they really pulled their weight and went above and beyond what they were required to do."

He added: "I tell you I wasn't even expecting them to turn up. But I would say they have turned their lives around. They won't go back to doing what they did and I'm hoping they come out positive."

Mr. Minors said this was the second group to gain the awards since a group had taken part in the award the first time in 1999.

All of the young men had to take part in community service, which they did either looking after the elderly at Matilda Smith Williams Seniors' Residence or helping out in renovation work for Habitat for Humanity.

Other parts of the award required the youngsters to take part in soccer training and a skill, such as woodwork or gardening.

The final test involved the group trekking a total of seven miles on an overnight camping expedition. They walked from Spittal Pond to St. David's before camping one night on Paget Island, before hiking over to St. George's and back to the Co-ed facility at Ferry Reach.

Asked how it felt to finally receive the award after three months of hard work, Mr. Simmons said: "It's pretty good. I didn't learn nothing though. It was about teamwork and communication, which are things I was taught when I was young."

He said the best part of the whole experience had been listening to their group supervisor, former Co-ed Facility coordinator Ed Williams, snore while they were camping at Paget Island

And Mr. Simons said: "I'm a realist and a lot of why I did it was because I was in prison and I wanted to get outside and free for a bit. I feel good receiving this now though. It was an achievement of self discipline."

Mr. Bartrum said: "It feels nice. I had to go through a lot of hard work but it was worth it. I would definitely encourage others to do it. The experience was a very useful one. I learned to trust people and do things for myself too."

Mr. Ratteray said: "It feels good because I think I've accomplished something."