A project in Borneo has helped a young man to become the first in his village for decades to receive the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award.

John Pawson (known to his friends as Nhoj) is the first scout in the village for at least 26 years to earn the coveted award.

Nhoj, who is now studying engineering at Cambridge University, went to St James' Palace as the guest of the Duke of Edinburgh to receive his award.

Following a few words with Prince Philip, the presentation was made by Dom Mee, the ex-marine and explorer, who narrowly escaped death in September when his rowing boat was run down by a fishing boat in the North Pacific after he had rowed 5,500 miles from Japan towards San Francisco.

Nhoj, whose parents live at Hall Drive, Burley, has had his own share of adventures to earn his prize. He completed the Gold Award by taking part in a Raleigh International project in the province of Sabah on the island of Borneo in South-East Asia. Prior to that he had planned and executed two four-day cycle expeditions in Northumbria and the Lake District along with three of his friends from 1st Burley Explorer Scouts.

He also worked towards the award by playing hockey with Ben Rhydding hockey club, learning a web programming language with which he created a scout website and helping with the running of the scout troop at Burley.

His proud dad Rob, who is himself a scout leader, said: "This is a particularly special day for me. Obviously as his dad I'm immensely proud of his achievement, but also as his Explorer Scout Leader this represents the culmination of a great deal of hard work and hopefully will inspire younger scouts to follow in his footsteps.

"In my 26 years as a scout leader in Burley this is the first Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Award to be gained. And the icing on the cake is that both his mum and I were privileged to be invited to St James' Palace to see him presented with his award."

Not content with resting on his laurels, Nhoj now intends to complete the highest award in scouting - the Queen's Scout Award. Now his family are looking forward to the day when he will be a guest of the Queen at Windsor Castle.

In the meantime, Rob is appealing for more helpers to enable up and coming scouts to achieve their own successes in the Duke of Edinburgh awards scheme.

He said: "The 1st Burley Explorers have 21 members between the age of 14 and 18 working towards the Duke of Edinburgh's Silver and Gold Awards. The Duke of Edinburgh's Award represents a natural continuation of the skills and values learned in the scout troop. We have a plentiful supply of committed and energetic youngsters from the scout troop, however, at present we have only three adult leaders providing for the needs of about 80 boys from the age of eight. It would be great to hear from anyone who may be prepared to give some time to help."

Rob Pawson can be contacted on 01943 862221.