DofE PRESENTATION AT THE PALACE
On Wednesday 29 November, representatives from three schools in Wiltshire received a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) Licensed Organisation certificate from English Mountaineer, Nigel Vardy at St James’s Palace in London. The Presentation was attended by His Royal Highness The Earl of Wessex.
We received our licence (along with two other schools) to deliver The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award alongside 100 young people from the South West who were receiving their Gold Award at the Gold Award Presentation.
The DofE is widely acknowledged as the world’s leading achievement award for young people and a DofE programme involves volunteering, learning a skill, getting fit, planning and undertaking an expedition, and at Gold Level, also taking part in a 5 day residential. The DofE enables any young person, aged 14-24, to develop key skills for life and work, such as confidence, commitment and team working.
Terri Wilcox, Head of Co-Curricular and Careers, attended the presentation on behalf of Warminster School, and said, “The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award experience is a marvellous one as you get to understand more about yourself, your own motivation, and about what motivates others. All of this is extremely useful to know when working in a team both at the time and in later life.”
There are currently over 2,400 young people taking part in a DofE programme across Wiltshire through a variety of centres including both state and independent schools, special educational needs schools and colleges.
Heather Thompson, Director of South West said, “It’s fantastic to welcome these schools to St James’s Palace to celebrate their ongoing support for the DofE in Wiltshire. The DofE is on its way to enabling even more young people to do their DofE and the Charity can only do this with the support of schools and colleges in the region. Without the hard work of teachers, lecturers and volunteers young people in the area wouldn’t have the opportunity to do their DofE and transform their lives.”