Fida Hussain and Gareth Swarbrick attend Buckingham Palace

Gareth Swarbrick and Fida Hussain at the Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Award Presentation in the gardens at Buckingham Palace

Fida Hussain and Gareth Swarbrick had the honour of attending the Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Award Presentation in the gardens at Buckingham Palace on Monday (16 May).

The event was held to mark the diamond anniversary of the awards and honour the special shared commitment to the development of young people by the Duke of Edinburgh's Award and those organisations and individuals who work to deliver the awards in communities across the country. Attendees included HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, TRH's the Earl and Countess of Wessex, award trustees and other special guests.

Mr Hussain, a Community Partnership Worker at Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), and RBH CEO Mr Swarbrick were were presented with a plaque to recognise the RBH commitment to the awards.

The RBH emblem will now be displayed in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award offices as part of a "wall of emblems".

Mr Hussain's personal commitment to the Duke of Edinburgh's award goes back over a decade, and has been rewarded with a Rochdale Diversity Award and the Mountain Training Association's "Mountain Leader of the Year" award. 

He said: "It was an honour to be part of the jubilee presentation and to see so many young people receive their well deserved gold awards.

"RBH has always been committed to developing creative projects within our communities and the DofE awards are a great example of this work"