HALESOWEN healthcare assistant Izzy Sandford is celebrating after achieving the Duke of Edinburgh’s gold award.

The 23-year-old has scooped the prestigious accolade after completing a series of activities, which were rounded off with an action-packed residential in Cornwall this summer.

Izzy, who works full time at West Midlands Hospital, Halesowen, first became involved with the programme when she was still at school.

She has completed a range of activities including voluntary work at the PDSA Charity Shop in Stourbridge every weekend, treks across some of Britain’s most rugged landscapes and improving her dance skills.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s award is a programme for young people in the UK which provides them with challenging and rewarding experiences to aid their personal development.

Participants have the opportunity to work towards bronze, silver and gold awards and achieving an award is a passport to a brighter future and is highly valued by employers and universities.

Izzy has already achieved her bronze and silver awards and will now go forward to collect her Gold award at a special ceremony at St James’s Palace, London.

Izzy said: “I feel really proud to have achieved the Gold award. The Duke of Edinburgh’s award is something I’m very passionate about and it’s great to have achieved all three awards.

“I feel that the whole programme has made a big difference to me and has helped me get to where I am today with Ramsay Health Care at West Midlands Hospital.