Almost 60 young people have been presented with Duke of Edinburgh's Awards for community service, acquired skills and sporting talents.

Deputy Governor Nick Carter presented the Bronze, Silver and Gold awards to the young people at Government House on Tuesday afternoon.

"The Bermudian award holders now join a global family of three million other certificate holders in 80 different countries," Mr. Carter said.

"Wherever you travel you will find other groups and you will always be welcomed.

"The establishment's aim is to help young people through the voyage of self discovery."

Mr. Carter encouraged the awardees to take their place in the community and he thanked the various members of the community and supportive parents who helped then in their efforts.

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award is a Bermuda success story that was first introduced to the Island in 1967.

The award encourages responsibility, self-reliance, community awareness and perseverance in young people.

Through the award, young people between the ages of 14 to 25 gain a sense of accomplishment by achieving goals in a broad range of activities. In order to receive an Award, each participant volunteers to complete many hours of volunteer work, skills participation, physical activity and adventure expeditioning.

The organisation is attempting to raise $750,000 to hire a full-time director for the Award to reach other schools.

Conyers Dill and Pearman executive Nicholas Trollope said so far $320,000 had been raised and he extended thanks to the XL Foundation, Endurance Re, Belco, Max Re, Fidelity, AIG/Starr Foundation.

Lawrence Trimingham said they have a major capital campaign in progress whereby the Award is seeking to set up endowment to ensure the award programme thrives and flourishes on the Island.

"The vision and generosity of these companies will go some significant way in helping us achieve this goal," he said.

"Our ultimate aim is to make the Award available to all young people in Bermuda.

"The Award in Bermuda has reached a point where, with some investment, we believe we can further augment our outreach to have a greater impact on a larger segment of the community."

Mr. Trimingham said that despite the fact that the funds had started to come in, there was still some way to go to reach the financial goals the Award programme would like to achieve.

"We are aware of the fact that many organisations have pigeon holes whereby their charitable donations can be allocated, such as education, social services, youth and sport, etc.," he said, "But this award programme touches on all of these aspects and enriches the lives of Bermudas young people, thereby improving the social environment for all of us here in Bermuda.

"If we can garner enthusiasm for the programme amongst the youth who feel marginalised by society, we can improve the quality of life and spirit amongst the whole community."

To contribute to the capital campaign, contact Mr. Trollope on 299 4914 or ngtrollopecdp.bm.

The award encourages responsibility, self-reliance, community awareness and perseverance in young people and this year's awardees enriched the community through a variety of voluntary services including: assistance with libraries; churches and Sunday schools; the aquarium; the Island's hospitals and care facilities; animal and child care organisations; coaching sports; assisting the National Trust; and helping out at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI).

The programme also includes an expedition, which saw some of the recipients venture throughout the Island, as well as Barbados, Dominica, St. Vincent and the United Kingdom.

This year's award recipients participated in the programme through the Bermuda Guides Association, Bermuda High School, De Navigators at The Centre on Angle Street, Mount Saint Agnes, Saltus Grammar School and Warwick Academy.

The Gold Awards were presented to Vanessa Henderson, Megan O'Kelly-Lynch, Fanaye Broadbelt, Jevanie Fubler, Rachel Willetts, Jason Rhind, Adrian Kawaley-Lathan and Victor Leite.

The Silver awardees were Kristina Bean, Anita Amaral, Kalena Astwood, Madeline Gardner, Frances Giffard, Hayley Hill, Sanche Simmons, Kyle Smith, Jonathan McBeath, Cameron Medeiros, Douglas Olson, Bryce Pantry and Jessica Palmer.

There were 47 Bronze category award holders were Jessica Botelho, Zoe Brady, Rajika Goel, Samantha Gosling, Ellissa Lambert, Laura Norman, Jessica Osborne, Sanche Simmons, Ashleigh Simons, McKenzie Bean, Sher-Keia Outerbridge, Tyrell Richards-Harvey, Tyasha Smith, Donita Stevens; Teshae Trott, Alana Wade, Gethin Adderley, Andrew Barnes, Paul Bechter, Connor Burns, E. James Burrows, Jiney Caines, Antoine DeShields, Abigail Hill, Andrew Masters, Cameron Medeiros, Douglas Olson, Chris Parker, Chardonne Paynter, Damian Pitcher, Hunter Pitcher, Brian Rodriguez; Keivon Simons, Aruna Dismont, Jahde Eve, Asha Ford, Andy Kerr, Joy Martin, Shalinee Perry, Jennifer Phillips, David Pitman, Jessica Runkel, Matthew Sharpe, Cristen Simmons, Nicole Simons, Gregory Suter and Raisa Tuzo.