An Eastleigh teen has been selected as a UK youth ambassador for The Duke of Edinburgh's Award.

Anais Harvey, 16, is one of 35 award holders aged 16-24 from across the country.

The home-educated teen first discovered the DofE through the New Forest Outdoor Centre, which introduced her to various activities including skateboarding, patchwork, and Ultimate Frisbee.

Ms Harvey said: "There were so many things I wanted to try but I never really had something holding me accountable like the DofE did, I don’t think I ever would have finished an entire patchwork quilt without it."

She wants to use her position as a youth ambassador to encourage other home-educated students to consider the DofE and the opportunities it presents.

Ms Harvey continued: "I didn’t actually realise DofE was something I could do as a home-educated student, but as soon as I found out about the Open Centre, I had no questions about saying yes and jumped straight in.

"The fantastic thing about the DofE is that everyone’s journey through the award is different, much like how everyone’s home education journey is unique.

"DofE has been an amazing opportunity for me to dive deep into existing passions and explore new ones."

One of just 35 selected from across the UK (Image: The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award) As part of her DofE experience, Ms Harvey enjoyed hiking and camping for her expeditions.

After a smooth bronze expedition, her silver expedition was more challenging, but it taught her resilience.

Ms Harvey said: "My Silver expedition showed me that I’m much stronger than I thought.

"It started raining immediately, and we were soaked through by lunchtime.

"We came face-to-face with so many obstacles - we were almost trampled by a herd of cows.

"But we knew we had to keep going, otherwise it would have all been for nothing."

Ms Harvey used her volunteering section to work at a local wellbeing café, which helped her overcome her shyness and inspired a potential career path in speech and language therapy.

Ashley Williams, UK Youth Engagement Manager at The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, said: "Anais is one of many young people who has achieved incredible things through their DofE."