New plaque presented in memory of Mitch Couriard

Sunday 19 March 2017

A plaque in memory of the late Mitch Couriard, MBE, is due to be presented tomorrow by the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Jersey Committee.

It will be the first time the plaque is awarded to an Islander.

Mitch Couriard passed away in October 2015 and was well-known for his service in the St Helier honorary police and for his work with the Jersey Youth Service, in particular as manager for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. 

DofE Jersey Committee Chairman, Mike Entwistle said: “The new plaque reflects the ethos of Mitch’s service to the community, and is to be presented annually in his memory in recognition of outstanding voluntary service in connection with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.”

This year’s recipient, Elysia Parmesan, completed her Gold DofE with the Island Award Centre, and since 2011 has continued as a voluntary leader with the Centre, providing expedition training and meeting weekly to supervise other DofE participants. 

DofE Development Officer for the Youth Service, Catherine Gavey said: “Elysia has been a knowledgeable, dedicated and reliable member of the Island Award Centre leadership team and her voluntary service has been vital to enable many more young people to gain their DofE.

“DofE offers life-changing experiences for 14 to 24-year-olds and gives them the opportunity to be the very best they can be. We desperately need volunteers like Elysia, who are willing to be trained and give back some time to help young people to achieve their potential.”