The Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award at Derwen College

What is the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award?

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) gives young people aged between 14 and 24 the chance to develop skills for life and work, fulfil their potential and have a brighter future.

It is a twelve month (minimum) challenge, and one which helps young people gain:

• An internationally recognised and valued award.
• A sense of achievement.
• Communication skills.
• Evidence of commitment.
• Experience of team work.
• Independent thinking.
• Leadership skills.
• Problem solving skills.
• Self-confidence.
• Self-reliance.
• The ability to face a challenge.
• The opportunity to try something new.
• Time management skills.

Levels

There are three levels of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award: Bronze, Silver and Gold.

Participants usually complete the Bronze and Silver award before attempting the Gold Award.

What is involved in the Gold Award?

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is an inclusive award, tailored to each individual.  This enables participants to take part and challenge their own individual abilities.  Derwen College supports each student throughout their DofE journey, providing guidance and enabling them to persevere and complete each element of the Award.

There are five sections involved in the Gold DofE Award:

1) Volunteering

This section is about helping people, the community, society, the environment or animals.

2) Skills

Encourages young people to develop practical and social skills and pursue their personal interests.

3) Physical

Helps young people achieve a healthy lifestyle and a greater physical fitness. Physical activities include a wide-range of sports or exercise including (but not limited to) athletics, football, martial arts, dance or swimming.

4) Expedition

This will involve planning, training for, and completing a four day/three night expedition. The expedition will include travel (this is usually walking, but could be by other modes, eg: bike or canoe), camping overnight and preparing meals using camping equipment.

5) Residential

This will involve five days and four nights away from home, meeting and working alongside new people. The residential is all about having new experiences, in a new environment and gaining new life skills.

Timings

To complete their volunteering, skills, physical and expedition sections, participants work on their award for three hours a week. This can be through timetabled activities.

Costs

There is an initial cost of £35 for registration and further costs for the expedition and residential sections.

The total cost per residential student for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award is £1,050.

To secure a place on the Gold DofE Award programme, a payment of £400 is required by March 2023.

We are hopeful that we can obtain sponsorship from local organisations to cover the remaining balance .

If your young person is a day student there will be additional charges for taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. This is due to DofE sessions taking place outside of the usual college week.  Please contact Steve Evans for more information and we are happy to provide a breakdown of the extra costs.

For more information

If you require more information about the Gold Award, contact Steve on email: stephen.evans@derwen.ac.uk or telephone: 01691 661234 ext 383