The Duke of Edinburgh's Award is a voluntary, non-competitive and flexible programme of cultural and adventurous activities for all young people, whatever their background or ability.

Our Mission

OUR AIM: One day any young person aged between 14 and 25 who wants to do the Award will be able to do so...

OUR VISION: For The Duke of Edinburgh's Award to be universally recognised and widely adopted as the best programme for the personal development of young people.

OUR MISSION: The Duke of Edinburgh's Award is committed to providing for young people an enjoyable, challenging and rewarding programme of personal development, which is of the highest quality and the widest reach.

Our goal is to strengthen the Award by continuing to broaden and extend its reach to the many communities that comprise contemporary United Kingdom.

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award is a registered charity and relies on the generous support of volunteers, Operating Authorities and businesses to meet its commitment to help all young people realise their full potential.

The Ten Key Principles of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award:

Non-Competitive: The Award is a personal challenge and not a competition against others. Each participant's programme is tailor-made to reflect the individual starting point, abilities and interests.

Available to All: With a commitment to equal opportunities, the Award Programme is available to all young people who choose to take up its challenge.

Voluntary: Young people make a free choice to enter the programme and commit their own time to undertake the activities.

Flexible: Young people design their own programme, which can be geared to their choice and personal circumstances and also to local provision. They may enter for whichever level of Award best suits them, and may take as long as they wish to complete an Award.

Balanced: By choosing activities in each of four different Sections (five at Gold), participants undertake a balanced and wide ranging programme.

Progressive: At each level, the Award Programme demands more time and an increasing degree of commitment and responsibility from the participant.

Achievement Focused: Before starting an activity, young people are encouraged to set their own goals. If they aim for those goals and show improvement, they will achieve their Award.

Marathon, not a Sprint: The Award demands persistence and commitment and cannot be completed in a short burst of enthusiasm. Participants may want to continue with activities beyond the minimum time requirements set out for each level of the Award.

Personal Development: The Award is a programme of personal and social development. The value to young people is dependent on personal commitment, the learning process and the quality of the experience.

Enjoyable: Young people and helpers should find participation enjoyable and satisfying.

 

  
 
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The Employee

Jen is 23 and started work at her company last year, having relocated to take the job after leaving college. Currently working towards her Gold Award, Jen has completed most of it already, most recently a spot of canal clearance work undertertaken with a group of fellow Award Participants. She has just started a darkroom photography course and is busy planning her expedition for this summer. Jen says that the Award has been a good way of meeting colleagues as her group meets after work in a local bar to plan their activities. She also hopes to do a sponsored bike ride in Namibia for a national charity next year.

The Company Volunteer

Michael got involved with the Award when his company launched the programme a few years ago. As a manager it can be difficult mixing with younger employees but he has overcome that by leading a group of apprentices who have done a couple of practice expeditions in Wales. He has also joined in with a lot of their other activities and training sessions. Michael's company is encouraging employees involved in the Award to organise local community-based activities for all employees to get involved in. He is going to do the Basic Expedition Leaders Award training course so he can training future groups within the company.

The Company

This high-tech company launched the Award recently as part of an integrated personal development programme for its younger members of staff, most of whom are under 25. Some of the younger managers have taken up the role of leading groups and there is already a strong mentoring culture being developed, meaning that employees in different departments communicate with each other, often by e-mail. They are currently planning a 'taster' activity weekend to encourage more employees to take part in the Award. Current participants in the company are following artistic pursuits, learning languages and enjoying subsidised IT courses. The company is a corporate supporter of the Award and it is impressed with the way the company can, through the programme, work with the community as part of its corporate social responsibility policy.

The Mentor

Hilary's daughter achieved the Gold Award through her independent school, and this spurred Hilary to help guide a very disadvantaged young man through his Bronze Award. The lad was 17 when he started on the award and left school early with no qualifications. He had no family to turn to and lived in hostel accommodation, paid for by Social Services. Hilary gave up some of her free time to help him plan his Award activities and discover thing that he would like to do, and which were suitable for him. It wasn't an easy ride for Hilary but she had an enormous sense of achievement when her mentee gained his Award and, as a result, got on the path to gaining a job and somewhere better to live.

The Volunteer

Sophie is a self-employed interior designer and decorator and helps out at her local Open Award Centre. Once a week she helps the youth workers guide the young people through their Awards, helping them to choose their activities and find out where to undertake them. She has taught many of them basic design and decorating skills as part of their Award work and supervised a team of participants who completely redecorated the Centre. Sophie's partner, Dave, has also been involved in the Centre for some time (where they met) and he runs the tuck shop with some of the participants and oversees their Service Section activities.

The Volunteer

Jasper lives in a rural village in the Scottish Highlands and is a volunteer member of an Award Wild Country Panel. He welcomes visiting Award Groups to the area and uses his local knowledge to thoroughly check their planned routes and advise them on any potential risks or complications of which they may not be aware. He happily gives up several weekends a year to go into the hills as it gives him a break from his role as a senior police officer. In his capacity as an Expeditions Assessor, Jasper checks that the young expeditioners have the correct equipment and training for their venture, and helps their supervisors ensure that they have a safe, enjoyable experience.

The Corporate Donor

This large, blue-chip company is a long-term supporter of the Award and covenants its annual donation to the Award to enable the charity to increase the value of the donation. Managers from the company have discovered that membership of the Award's corporate support programme has enabled them to network with their peers in other companies in similar or complementary fields of work. The company's board of directors believes strongly in the value of the Award Programme, especially to those young people who live on the fringes of society and who may not ever get any formal qualifications.

The private benefactor

Pamela has been involved in education all her working life, latterly as a head teacher of a secondary school before she retired. Her school operated The Duke of Edinburgh's Award and she has seen at first hand the way in which unmotivated, often truanting, pupils were encouraged to increase their attendance rates and attention in class by their achievements through the programme. Pamela received an inheritance recently and gave a sum of money to the school's Award Group to enable it to buy a supply of expedition equipment to be loaned out to needy pupils. She has also included in her will a request that a percentage of her estate be donated to the Award nationally to enable it to develop its work with disadvantaged young people.

The Parent

Richard's three children are all involved in the Award in some way. Twin daughters Megan and Josie (14) are undertaking their Bronze Awards, whilst son Jack (19) has his Silver and Gold Awards and is now helping out at his sisters' group. Richard has seen his son's confidence grow enormously through his involvement, going from an introverted, stay-at-home boy into a lively, adventurous young man. Richard largely confines his role to ferrying his children to and from their activities, but provides moral support and encouragement at home and helps them find opportunities to do whatever activities they have chosen for their Awards.