Duke of Edinburgh's Award

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award is a programme of activities aimed at young people between the ages of 14 and 25.

Participants work to achieve a Bronze Award, followed by a Silver and finally a Gold.

In order to achieve these awards, participants must complete one activity from each of these headings:

• Service
• Skills
• Physical Recreation
• Expedition
• Residential Project

You can find out more information by following this link to the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Website.

Jonathan Campbell, who has achieved both the Bronze and Silver Award, wrote about his experiences in the Autumn/Winter issue of Broxtowe Youth Factor. Below is his article:

" Duke of Edinburgh...Well, where do I begin? I got into D of E (as us cool people call it) through school, but when they decided not to run it anymore, me and a friend called Joe started doing it through the Beeston Youth and Community Centre, and I achieved Bronze and now Silver by working with them.

D of E is actually really good fun, probably mostly because you get to meet new people on the different activities that you do. It is split up into four different areas, each of which you have to complete before you get your award. They are: Service, which means volunteer work or such like; Physical, which is simply pursuing a sport for the set time; Skill, which includes activities like hobbies etc (I did piano for mine); and finally the dreaded expedition.

When people think of Duke of Edinburgh, they often immediately link it with the drudgery of sloshing over wet fields in the pouring rain, with only the inside of a damp tent and the hard, cold ground to sleep on. Ok, it can be a bit like this if you're unlucky, but most of the time it is actually fun. It's bascially a weekend out camping with some mates, probably very good mates as you would have got to know each other well through the training leading up to the expedition (things like how to cook, - very funny). And even the walking isn't too bad. It's really good to be able to go over the quiet beautiful countryside talking with your friends. And when the weather's nice, it's excellent!

So, I reckon if you have the chance, you should definitely do Duke of Edinburgh. Not only is it relatively good fun, it looks good to employers, and it's a chance to meet new people as well. So give it a go, if you think you;re hard enough!" By Jonathan Campbell