An air cadet who took himself “out of my comfort zone” has claimed a gold Duke of Edinburgh (DoE) Award and a date with royalty. 

Flight Sergeant James Munday of 1094 Ely Squadron progressed onto the bronze, silver and gold awards. 

As well as accomplishing areas such as skills and voluntary work, Ft Sgt Munday took up the section of a residential project with an adventure week on the Jurassic Coast in southern England. 

Here, he spent around a week taking on activities such as canoeing and archery while qualifying as a solo glider pilot and earning a freefall parachute licence. 

Ft Sgt Munday said: “I set out to take myself out of my comfort zone [and] the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme has given me all this." 

Ft Sgt Munday will now receive an invite to either a garden party at Buckingham Palace or a reception at St James’s Palace to meet HRH Prince Edward.