There are a multitude of reasons why it’s great to encourage young people to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) award. One person who has recently completed her DofE Gold Award has been speaking about her experiences and how she grew in confidence as she progressed.
Eithne, who’s now 20, told The National that one of the most important things for her was volunteering.
She explained that doing volunteer work was “a completely new experience”, and one that helped her meet people across all ages, as well as getting involved in and leading a range of activities.
“My confidence improved hugely in communicating with new people, cooking in the kitchen and even group sports,” she revealed.
Another thing she tried as part of her DofE Award was hill walking and going on expeditions, something she previously hadn’t experienced. Eithne explained that this took her to “amazing places in Scotland”, adding that despite not having a lot of experience of outdoor activities, she received a lot of support and encouragement.
Getting involved in DofE expeditions is one of the many brilliant things about following this award.
Luke Hill, who recently received his DofE Gold Award in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace told Luton Today that one of the most important skills he developed during his expeditions was teamwork.
He added that one of the highlights of his time working towards his DofE Gold Award came at the end of his final expedition, when the team saw their minibus and realised that they had almost completed their goal. Despite being exhausted, they ran to the bus to finish their expedition.
“To sum it up, it has been an amazing, rewarding experience” he said.
