The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award for Boys was established by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh in 1956, and Sir John (later Baron) Hunt, the leader of the 1953 Everest expedition, was appointed Director. By 1959 the Award had become a charitable trust; by 1960, 35,000 boys and 7,000 girls were participating in the scheme. The Award’s programmes related to rescue and public service, pursuits and projects, fitness, and expeditions, the last most pertinent to Hunt’s background as well as to the interests of his correspondent.

Professor Paul Hill MBE, FRPS (b. 1941) was a newspaper reporter from the late 1950s onwards, and would later work as a photojournalist for The Guardian, The Observer, The Telegraph Magazine, and the BBC, among others. Hill also worked as a climbing instructor throughout his earlier career, and ‘used the camera to record and remember my rock climbing and mountaineering adventures’ (http://hillonphotography.co.uk), before becoming a freelance photographer in 1965.

This letter appears to be in response to Hill having contacted The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award offering his ‘professional services’ (presumably as a climbing instructor) to the Award scheme in 1962. Hunt replies that ‘an addition to our very small staff’ would not be possible due to the structure of the Award administration, but encourages Hill to enquire about openings at ‘Local Education Authorities’ which ‘make new appointments in their youth staff [and] whose main duty lies in the development of the Awards Scheme’.