DofE Gold Expeditions 2021

SGAA: The Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award (DofE Gold) has been offered to the Lower Eighth at St Paul’s for around a decade.

Having not been able to run the expeditions in 2020, the pandemic meant that we ran the expeditions in a different format in 2021, and they were notable for the following: two trips rather than three, a new location (the Black Mountains) for the practice expedition, the boys having the luxury of single tents on the training expedition (thanks to the nuances of the Welsh COVID restrictions), blazing sunshine in the Yorkshire Dales in mid-July while London was enduring a monsoon, a trip organised at breakneck speed after restrictions were lifted, the first overnight trip since the March 2020 and the first oversubscribed DofE Gold trip in memory. We were very glad to be able to run “proper” expeditions rather than the expedition-lite arrangements allowed by the DofE as a concession to COVID. The qualifying expedition took place with the background of rapidly changing COVID guidance, which made finding a venue to watch the UEFA Euro final somewhat tricky. To pack everything into the limited time frame we employed for the first time the services of expert instructors who managed to train all 14 boys to a very high standard in just 4 days, made easier by the lovely weather conditions we enjoyed. The instructors were fulsome in their praise, summarising it as “a good gig”. The boys were then ready to undertake their qualifying expedition in the Yorkshire Dales; all completed the expedition successfully and in style, with no incidents (COVID or otherwise) and all boys showing admirable resilience in face of the demands of a self-supported 70km journey in remote countryside.

Well done to everyone on completing the expedition section and I hope all will complete the remaining sections to finish the Gold Award, and be inspired to undertake their own adventures in the UK and further afield.

Aiden Whitham: As the DofE group embarked on a 5 hour journey to the Yorkshire Dales, the only thing on anyone’s minds was the Euros finals. With a couple of Italian supporters hiding amongst the group, there were certainly plenty of arguments along the way. As we arrived in a small town at the start of our route, instead of spending the evening preparing for the expedition, we hunted for crayfish in a river and were delighted to be allowed to watch the Euro Final (albeit in a strangely empty venue with a relatively tiny screen). After a disappointing (for most of us) loss to Italy, we set off the next morning. Monday started off wet and cold, and in less than an hour we were lost in the fog. Going off pure instincts, we managed to escape the fog by going straight down a ridge, re-finding our route to the camp. The next three days were much easier as the weather completely turned around, and we spent more time sunbathing than doing our actual DofE. Embodying the mentality of David Goggins, we sped through the daily hikes in recordbreaking time, taking the occasional photo of a duck to meet our expedition requirements, allowing us plenty of time to relax at camp every evening and eat our surprisingly nice dehydrated food. At our final destination, once we had completed the expedition, we had a celebratory meal, bringing the trip to a nice conclusion. ❚