Duke of Ed Award Program

Aim

To improve physical fitness and wellbeing, and get active.

Ethos

The Physical Recreation Section of the Award offers young people the opportunity to participate in physical activity in a variety of ways. This can be achieved by training alone, undertaking noncompetitive or competitive activity, participating in team sports, extending engagement in a current physical activity or sport, or undertaking a supervised fitness or training program.

No matter what a young person’s physical or mental ability or inclination is, as long as they have the determination, this Section offers the opportunity to develop healthy fitness habits that will hopefully carry on long after an Award has been achieved.

Benefits

Taking part in any physical activity has many benefits for Participants. The activity should be enjoyable and the goals set realistic, so that at the end of the Section, Participants feel a real sense of achievement.

• Developing a healthy lifestyle
• Improving fitness
• Increasing self‐esteem
• Interacting socially, especially in a team sport, but also through meeting people with interest in a similar individual sport
• Enhancing self‐discipline, perseverance and self‐motivation
• Experiencing a sense of achievement
• Raising awareness of the variety of opportunities available in the area
• Encouraging teamwork, if the activity is a team sport
• Enjoyment

Examples

• Participate in a team sport
• Join a dance class
• Take up skipping
• Try Zumba, yoga or pilates
• Swimming
• Surfing
• Horse riding
• Indoor rock climbing
• Running
• Learn a martial art
• Regularly go for a walk
• Skiing/snowboarding
• Motorsports

Aim

To broaden the development of personal interests and practical skills.

Ethos

This Section of the Award should encourage the development of new interests or improve existing ones and practical skills. These interests are typically of a non-physically demanding nature and may be hobbies, vocational/job related skills, social, cultural or individual activities or life skills.

With so many hobbies and interests to choose from, the Skills Section of the Award allows young people to explore and discover talents within themselves that they may have only hoped for or dreamed about.

In some ways, this is the broadest Section of the Award, as it offers so many choices based on individual interests and passions, whether artistic, creative, musical, academic, technical, cultural or some other area. By trying something entirely new, or undertaking an existing activity with renewed purpose, Participants will stimulate new interests or improve on existing ones.

Benefits

Because the Skills Section is so broad, Participants not only have the opportunity to take part in an activity that truly interests them, they can also find themselves developing skills they previously thought out of their reach. Activities chosen should be enjoyable and the goals set realistic so that at the end of the Section, Participants feel a real sense of achievement.

• Discovering new abilities and developing these or improving existing talents.
• Increasing self‐confidence by successfully setting and achieving a goal.
• Refining awareness of one’s own potential.
• Developing time management and planning skills.
• Enhancing self‐motivation.
• Interacting socially by meeting new people and interacting with other people, often older, in a meaningful way.
• Improving employability by learning vocational skills.

Examples

• Learn a musical instrument
• Learn a language
• Cooking 
• Photography
• Design
• Cake decoration
• Sewing
• Reading
• Bird watching
• Gardening
• Chess
• Hairdressing
• Learning to dive
• Drama and theatre skills
• Umpiring and refereeing 
• Journalism
• Event planning and organising

Aim

To connect with community and give useful voluntary service to others and their communities.

Ethos

Perhaps the most personal of all the Award Sections, Voluntary Service is all about giving back to the community Participants are part of, or giving to others and their communities. Whatever passions young people may have, whether it’s care and concern for the environment, a love of animals, a desire to make a difference to the lives of those less fortunate than themselves or a wish to help the sick or elderly, the Voluntary Service Section offers the structure to fulfill these passions.

Voluntary Service offers a young person the opportunity to engage with society and gain an understanding of the importance of their role within both their immediate and global community. It gives Participants the chance to connect with individuals and groups they may have previously overlooked or not been aware of, and to make a real difference to their wider community.

Benefits

By getting involved with their community, Participants should enjoy making a real difference to the lives of others, and through this, develop a greater responsibility to themselves and wider society. It is hoped that through regular commitment to their chosen Voluntary Service activity, Participants will begin to form a lifelong habit of community involvement and voluntary service.

• Learning patience, tolerance, and compassion.
• Overcoming ignorance, prejudice, apathy and fear.
• Increasing awareness of the needs and problems of others.
• Exploring and improving interpersonal skills and self‐development skills.
• Enhancing leadership qualities.
• Trusting and being trusted.
• Making a real difference to the lives of others.
• Accepting the responsibility of commitment to others.
• Meeting new people from different backgrounds.
• Forming a lifelong habit of community involvement.
• Enjoyment and a sense of satisfaction in helping others.
• Being able to relate to others from different generations.

Examples

• Participating in a conservation project.
• Caring for a public/school garden.
• Helping an emergency service team, eg SES, RFS, CFS/CFA, St John Ambulance, Royal Lifesaving.
• Caring for animals under threat.
• Fundraising for a charity.
• Helping out at a charity clothing store.
• Acting in a leadership role in a youth club, school or uniformed youth organisation.
• Teaching/assisting a person to read or write.
• Assisting in the teaching of primary school children.
• Visit people in need, such as elderly or disabled people. 
• Voluntary work in hospitals and care centres. 
• Coach your local junior sporting team. 

Aim

To stimulate a spirit of adventure and self-discovery whilst undertaking a journey in a group.

Ethos

The Adventurous Journey is all about getting out and going on an expedition or exploration in an unfamiliar and challenging environment, with an agreed objective/purpose. More than any other Section of the Award, the Adventurous Journey is about teamwork and social connection with both the team members who will undertake the journey, and also the Volunteers who instruct, supervise and assess the journey. The journey creates the environment for group work through planning, task sharing, problem solving, role allocation and team reflection.

At the heart of the Adventurous Journey, is the opportunity for a young person to engage in activities that require determination, physical effort, perseverance, problem solving and cooperation. It is intended that all who undertake this Section of the Award, are rewarded with a unique, challenging and memorable experience.

Benefits

Being in an unfamiliar environment, Participants will experience team challenges throughout both the preparation and training, and the journeys themselves. Personal dedication and perseverance are required for the Adventurous Journey, and some Participants may find the challenge is much harder than they anticipated. The rewards at the completion of the Qualifying Journey, however, are hard to match – elation, a real sense of achievement, self-confidence, trust, and belief in oneself and others.

• Working as part of a team.
• Understanding group dynamics, the Participant’s own role and the role of others in a team.
• Enhancing leadership skills.
• Improving planning and organisational ability, and attention to detail.
• Learning to make real decisions and accept real consequences.
• Obtaining a sense of achievement and satisfaction by overcoming challenges and obstacles.
• Developing self‐reliance and independence.
• Developing health and fitness.
• Experiencing and appreciating the outdoor environment.
• Gaining the appropriate knowledge and skills to journey safely in that environment.
• Exercising imagination and creativity by choosing their own journey.
• Improving their investigating, reviewing and presentational skills.

Examples

• Bushwalking
• Canoeing
• Cycling
• Horse riding
• Rafting
• Sailing
• Cross country skiing
• Motorised vehicles (eg off-road)
• Scientific/Geographic explorations
• Historical/Cultural trips
• Flora/Fauna studies
• Mapping shipwrecks
• Exploration of old cemeteries in a region
• Experience and understand other languages/cultures

Aim

To broaden experience through involvement with others in a residential setting.

Ethos

The Gold Residential Project offers Participants unique experiences that truly broaden horizons, challenges their outlook and/or extends their comfort zone. At the heart of theGold Residential Project is the undertaking of a purposeful experience with people who are not the Participant’s usual companions, working towards a common goal. Adding to this, the young person is also outside of their usual place of residence, often in an unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar people. It is hoped that the Gold Residential Project rewards Gold Award Participants with a sense of personal achievement, enhanced social connection with new and interesting people, and a truly life changing experience.

Benefits

Some of the benefits for Participants include:

• Meeting new people
• Experiencing an unfamiliar environment
• Building new relationships
• Working as part of a team
• Accepting responsibility
• Developing communication skills
• Developing confidence
• Showing initiative
• Learning new skills or enhancing existing ones
• Enjoying living and working with others

Examples

Personal and skills training courses:

• Residential language courses.
• Leadership training.
• Skills development (e.g. music, art, craft).
• Ecology study course.
• Youth camps.
• Youth parliaments.

Environment and conservation projects:

• Environmental clean up.
• Habitat restoration.
• Volunteer work with national parks.
• Research on habitats and ecosystems.
• Restoration projects eg. buildings.

Voluntary Service to other people and communities:

• Provision of facilities.
• Construction projects.
• Assisting as a leader at a camp for young people.
• Working with a local or an overseas aid charity.
• Working in a care home or hospital.

Activity based:

• Outdoor adventure courses.
• Sports coaching course.
• Sport skills development and sport representative tours.
• Crew member on board a Tall Ship.