For anyone who doesn’t know what the Duke of Edinburgh is, here is a quick rundown. It’s a program with three stages; bronze, silver and gold, each involving four sections: volunteering, skill, physical, expedition and only for gold, residential. I have completed my bronze dofe and recently finished my silver expedition, so I think I’ll be able to give a holistic view.
When thinking of the Duke of Edinburgh we need to consider each section individually starting with volunteering. This requires you to do an hour of volunteering a week for a given time period; this can include things like tutoring at your school or volunteering at a library. This is a great way to give back to your community although some people may not be able to take the time out of their week.
The skill section requires you to either learn a new skill or hone one you already have. I decided to count my music lessons for this. It doesn’t have to be anything too fancy; you can even cook or bake something each week and get a neighbour to sign off on it. This keeps you motivated to continue practicing your skill.
The third section is the physical section in which you need to do something, you guessed it, physical. A good way to do this is by joining a club at school as you can do it with your friends and there is definitely someone there to sign you off on it.
The last part is the expedition, there are different criteria for this based on the level but basically you will have to complete a planned and unaccompanied expedition. You will receive training on required skills such as putting up a tent, using a trangia (portable stove), and reading a compass. For bronze the expedition will last for 2 days and 1 night and you will need to travel for at least 6 hour each day travelling along the path you have planned and cook your food at night. For silver this is 3 days and 2 nights and for gold it is 4 days and 3 nights.
I have done the bronze and silver expeditions so I can only tell you about those two. The bronze expedition was pretty easy compared to the silver on since our path wasn't on many fields or woods and we were allowed on roads. The worst part was how heavy our rucksacks were. Silver wasn’t too bad either, it was a lot worse than bronze but still bearable. I did my silver expedition in September, so the days were shorter so we had to hurry. We weren't allowed on roads so we had to use footpaths and a lot of our paths were in fields and woods where navigating can be difficult. It’s not for everyone so we have to do a practice expedition as well as the qualifying one and after the practice expedition if you decide it’s too much then you don’t have to do the qualifying one.
One of my friends said,” Although it had many challenges, it gave me opportunities to grow as a person which I am grateful for.” I completely agree with this, the Duke of Edinburgh has helped me a lot. I was definitely worth it for me but I know it's not for everybody but either way and I hope you at least give it a chance.
