MORE than 500 young people from around the region had their achievement celebrated by the Durham Scouts on September 17.

The awards were presented by the Lord Lieutenant of Durham, Sue Snowdon, at Durham Town Hall.

Those in attendance included three 1st Staindrop Cubs who received their Silver Chief Scouts Award – Nathan Hardy, Jared Parish and Daniel Vickers.

Fellow scouts Adam Machan, Sam Arundel and George Ellwood also received their Gold Chief Scouts Award while Leah Johnstone was awarded with her Platinum award.

Scout leader, Jacqui Nicholson, said she was very proud of the young people, especially the Cubs who received the highest achievement they can as a Cub after completing six challenge badges over two years.

“We had a great day celebrating the achievements of over 500 other young people from all over our region,” Mrs Nicholson said.

“Scouts aim to build and develop young people's confidence, sense of adventure and outdoor skills as well as encouraging them to explore their beliefs and attitudes and to be creative. “They have each worked exceptionally hard through six sets of challenges to earn these awards at each age group.”