THOUSANDS of children went to Buckingham Palace to receive an award, including pupils from a children’s disability school.

Pupils from Ysgol Maes Hyfryd were the first in Flintshire to receive the award with additional needs and they attended Buckingham Palace Gardens last month to meet members of the royal family.

Shaun Rodham, Ryan Evans and Jack Williams attended the event along with HRH The Earl of Wessex, HRH The Countess of Wessex, HRH The Princess Royal and a host of celebrities who assisted in presenting the awards to the young people.

Glenys Roberts, retired teacher, said: “The award takes a minimum of 12 months’ commitment to complete and is not for the faint-hearted as it requires a lot of hard work and dedication.

“It was the highlight of my career which has spanned 40 years, and a very proud day to see the young people be presented their awards.”

The teacher, who was invited as a special guest in recognition of her achievements, had to fundraise for the necessary money for the pupils to complete their awards and said she is very grateful to local businesses and individuals who supported their efforts.

The group began their Duke of Edinburgh journey to the Palace in 2015 when they enrolled to do their bronze award.

Anne Williams said her 20-year-old son Jack has autism and doing the award has made him more confident.

She added: “This was a huge achievement done through the school. Jack’s confidence has really built up and he has made new friends.

“We are looking to the future now too, that he might actually work one day which is brilliant. When he started the school, he wasn’t very verbal and here he is doing his gold D of E.

“It was an extremely special day, we had to go to London, but the atmosphere was really exciting, it was nice.”

In order to achieve the award, the pupils had to complete the five sections: volunteering, physical, skills, expedition and residential.

A fourth pupil achieved the award with the same group, Megan Roscoe, but was unable to attend the garden party.