The Duke of Edinburgh鈥檚 Award will continue to be available to young people in Blaenau Gwent after the Council鈥檚 Youth Service was licensed to run the scheme for a further three years.
The DofE is available to all young people from school year 9 onwards. While taking part in the Award, participants will set personal tasks that will challenge themselves. The DofE requires each individual to complete four sections: Volunteering; Skills; Physical and Expedition, leading to a Bronze, Silver or Gold Award.
Stephanie Price, Director of DofE Wales, says:
鈥淲e are really pleased to continue our partnership with Blaenau Gwent Youth Service. Despite the difficulties of the Pandemic the service has continued to support and engage young people taking part in their DofE. It鈥檚 fantastic to see that the enthusiasm and energy for the DofE Award in the area has not faltered and offering the DofE to as many young people as possible remains a high priority going forward.鈥�
Through the DofE, young people will make friends and memories and build traits like confidence, resilience, and self-esteem, which can benefit mental health. They will gain skills and attributes for work and life, like problem-solving, team-working and self-motivation 鈥� and they鈥檒l achieve an Award that鈥檚 recognised by top employers and can help them stand out when applying for university or a job.
Every young person鈥檚 DofE programme is personal to them 鈥� they can choose what they鈥檇 like to do for their Skills, Volunteering and Physical sections, and most activities can count.
Over the last 10 years the Youth Service has supported more than 1,500 young people to achieve a Bronze, Silver or Gold DofE award. During this time young people from Blaenau Gwent have completed a varied programme of activities including, sports coaching, community volunteering, open water swimming and climbing to name a few.
The expedition is usually the most challenging but rewarding section of the DofE. As part of a team, young people complete an expedition training programme, helping them to gain all the necessary skills to take part in an adventurous, self-sufficient journey of two, three or four days (depending on award level), navigating their way along a pre-planned trail, hill or mountainous route camping along the way.
On the completion of an award participants are invited to attend a local presentation event, however on the successful completion of a Gold award, young people are invited to attend St James Palace or Buckingham Palace to receive their Gold certificate.
Councillor Joanne Collins, the Council鈥檚 Executive Member for Education says:
鈥淲e are proud to be able to offer the DofE Award to the young people of Blaenau Gwent for a further three years. It鈥檚 a great opportunity for anyone wanting to take part and demonstrates the combination of hard work, determination and lots of fun for all involved.鈥�
If you would like to know more about the DofE in Blaenau Gwent please e-mail catherine.parker@blaenau-gwent.gov.uk and you will be invited to take part in one of our online information sessions.