The Duke of Edinburgh award (also known as DofE) was first announced in February, 1955. At first, this was just for boys aged 15 to 18. It was first administered, and largely designed by Sir John Hunt, who had led the first successful ascent of Mount Everest in 1953, and had retired from the army to run The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
Here at NES we have been doing the Duke of Edinburgh since 1988. Ms. Dean, the NES coordinator of DofE, tells us that the Duke of Edinburgh is appealing because it helps young people develop important soft skills that are not learned in the classroom. This year there are 76 students doing the Bronze award, 34 doing the Silver award, and 4 doing the Gold award. The requirements to achieve the award is to do a physical, service and skill activity for one hour a week; every level has a different amount of work to complete. A student doing silver, Zahraa Hussein, has been on 2 expeditions. She explains that the DofE is appealing to her because of the experience you gain and because it enhances your CV in ways regular activities cannot.
