TEENAGERS and students shone at a glittering occasion when they were presented with Duke of Edinburgh Award certificates.

A packed Elizabethan Suite saw nearly 60 young people receive their awards from the Mayor of Bury, Councillor Wilf Davison, and education minister Ivan Lewis, MP for Bury South.

The mayor and the minister also welcomed several guests of honour: local people who have already won the top gold award. Brother and sister Mark and Karen Price of Greenmount received their awards from the Duke of Edinburgh at St James' Palace last month. They are former pupils of St. Gabriel's High School. They were joined at the palace by 24-year-old Claire O'Brien from Bolton. Lee Guite (25), meanwhile, completed his award last year and was presented at the palace in 2002. Now living in Cumbria, Lee is originally from Radcliffe where his parents still live.

Six schools in the borough run the award scheme: Bury Grammar School, Woodhey High, St Gabriel's, Coney Green, Bury CE High, and Elms Bank High. Some of those at the presentation ceremony also came through Radcliffe Youth Club and through an "open project".

At Saturday's (Nov 29) ceremony, they received silver and bronze awards depending on what level they had reached, while others were on their way to achieving a level.

Also present were Robert Johnston, the Award's North West regional officer; Carolyn Taylor, Bury Council's DOE award co-ordinator; and Ken Manning, chairman of the Expedition Panel.

Councillor Siobhan Costello, executive member for community services, said: "You cannot help but respect the efforts and determination of the young people who follow the award programme and provide a great deal of community benefit as well as gaining personal self-development along the way."

Award holders:

Gold: Karen Price, Mark Price, Claire O'Brien, Lee Guite.

Silver: Catherine Johnson, Andrew Seddon, Susan Heap, Rachel Burgess.

Bronze: Rebecca Lunness, Sanjay Desai, Vaishali Gupta, Holly Bamford, Paul Buckland, Melissa Cunningham, Hayley Jackson, Jennifer Gwyn, Christopher Cook, Katie Scott, Miranda Churton, Sheriden Grimoldby, Victoria Shaft, Elena Del Vescovo, Ashleigh Rolling, Natasha Egan, Matthew Dimitrov, Laura Sharkey, Melissa Shipley, Lois Calvert, Laura McBride, Michael Haworth, Holly Hooker, Peter Seddon, Jessica Greenway, Charlotte Wheelhouse, Susan Heap, Rachel Burgess, Victoria Drinkwater, Elizabeth Howarth.

Sectional certificates:

Gold: Judith Donnelly (service/skill).

Silver: Nikki Cookson (service/physical recreation/expedition), Lauren Brown (service/physical recreation/expedition), Kathryn Dunne (service/physical recreation/expedition), Jennifer Abel (service/skill/expedition), Claire Peart (service/expedition), Sam Davies (physical recreation), Nicola Cranshaw (service), Rebecca Lunness (expedition).

Bronze: Chris Nash (service/skill/expedition), Claire Beasley (skill/physical recreation), Louisa Robinson (skill/physical recreation), David Steers (service/physical recreation/expedition), Adam Bird (service/physical recreation/expedition), Jack Cooper (service), Megan Ambery (service), Joshua Pye (service), Natasha Long (service), Fiona Dickinson (service), Hannah Lennon (service), Katie Gregory (expedition), Terri Eastwood (skill), Jaquie Hopwood (skill).

Access organisations, sectional service: Leanne Bird, Natalie Fisher, Amanda Smalley, Kate Sutcliffe, Jodie Pilling, Simone Hill.