‘Brilliant’ response to JLGB’s DoE Award ideas

JLGB CHIEF executive Neil Martin was in stellar company as he stood in line for tea and cucumber sandwiches at a Buckingham Palace garden party in 2006.

He was chatting about JLGB to astronaut Buzz Aldrin and the first sub-four minute miler, Sir Roger Bannister, when Prince Philip came over.

Mr Martin was taken aback but the Prince told him to carry on. Hearing that JLGB had been offering kosher and Shabbat-friendly expeditions through the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, the royal remarked: “That’s brilliant.”

At that point the Queen joined them, Prince Philip telling her: “You’ve got to listen to this Liz, they provide kosher expeditions.”

His first encounter with the royal was in 2002 when the then 24-year-old JLGB volunteer conducted its youth band at a golden jubilee celebration in Barnet.

“Suddenly he pushed someone nicely out of the way and came up to the band, speaking to the members about their music.” Turning to Mr Martin, he asked what song would come next. Told it was God Save the Queen, he replied: “Oh, I’d better go back then.”

JLGB was one of the first organisations to pilot the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award when it was rolled out 65 years ago, since when 25,000 Jewish youngsters have taken part. Among them was gold award recipient Sacha Johnstone, who credits the scheme for helping him towards a career as a professional magician.

The 27-year-old from Redbridge took weekly lessons with a magician as part of his award programme.

Since joining the scheme at 14, Mr Johnstone had wanted to meet Prince Philip and to this end pushed himself to progress to gold standard. Achieving this in 2012, he did meet him at one of his last presentation ceremonies before the Earl of Wessex took over his role.“I was one of two UK delegates at a youth leadership conference [in Israel] that JLGB sent me to and he remarked how wonderful it was and said that he had visited Israel.”Mr Johnstone is now a DoE Award assessor.

For 86-year-old Barry Heiger — who joined JLGB in 1948 — meeting Prince Philip for the first time at a presentation ceremony in the early 1960s left him awestruck. “I had to introduce the group to him and he was very interested because these were some of the first people to get the award.”

You’ve got to listen to this Liz, they provide kosher expeditions’