DofE - A Tribute to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

We have just concluded our Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award. Looking back at the expedition, it had its ups and downs, and there were points where everyone struggled, however, we were part of a very supportive team and that kept us motivated.

Dartmoor is a very interesting place. It can be very pretty, with no clouds in the sky one minute, to becoming a tropical storm very quickly. I think one of the most special things about about Dartmoor is the feeling of being completely submersed in nature. We could look around at the top of a tor and see no man/woman made structures, which I think is a feeling I have never had before. I also really enjoyed the feeling of not having phones for the expedition. Our generation really relies on our mobile devices to take photos and snaps of our mates, without them we spent a lot more time “living in the moment”.

DofE has been a very important qualification/experience and I would definitely recommend it to anyone and everyone. I have done Silver DofE Cycling, which was a different experience compared to Gold Walking. Nevertheless, it’s amazing how helpful people become in a time of need. A prime example of this was during my Silver DofE Cycling, we climbed this steep hill and one of the team got a puncture, so we all came together as a group, sharing resources to fix the issue as quickly as possible.

There is a lot more to DofE than just the expedition, for example, volunteering, a physical skill and finally residential. For all these things I had to find an activity that I wouldn’t mind doing for 12 months. So, for my voluntary work, I worked at North Cadbury Primary School reading with the children and painting, which was fun. When I had finished that I became a member of the Sixth Form Club Committee, and planned Theme Nights and filled up the fridges. For my physical activity I did swimming and started really enjoying it. For my skill, I learned how to play the guitar. I have carried it on after finishing DofE and I’m still really enjoying it. For the residential part of my Award, I am planning to go out to Spain and go to a surf camp when travel is allowed again.

One major part of the completing the Duke of Edinburgh Award at this time was the recent passing of the Duke himself. This made the experience seem surreal, as the amazing opportunities we had been lucky enough to experience were made possible because of Prince Philip.

Prince Philip described the aims of the Duke of Edinburgh Award as “It’s what I like to describe as a ‘do-it-yourself’ growing up kit”. In my opinion, this is a very good summary of the whole thing. I feel that I am a more independent and more confident person, after not only the expeditions and other activities, but the communication with members of staff, team members and strangers we had never met.

I encourage everyone to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award, at any level, not only because of the opportunities and experiences we had, but because of the life skills we learnt.