Celebrating one million DofE journeys
Back in 2021, we launched our Youth Without Limits strategy and set ourselves the ambitious goal of giving one million young people the chance to take part in a DofE programme by 2026.
It was a bold ambition, especially given the disruption caused by the pandemic – but we knew that young people needed opportunities to build their confidence, develop new skills, pursue their passions and have adventures away from home, more than ever.
I’m now delighted to share that we have just exceeded this target, nearly two years earlier than we’d hoped. This is an amazing achievement which belongs to everyone involved with the DofE charity – our incredible volunteers, our brilliant staff, our committed and generous supporters and partners and, of course, the half a million young people who do incredible things through their DofE every year.
We are now in the fourth year of our five-year strategy and we have already achieved so much together.
- We’ve refreshed the programme to make it more flexible and inclusive, so every young person can design a DofE experience that’s right for them.
- We have launched our Resilience Fund and invested over £3m in funded places and bursaries to remove financial barriers to participation.
- We have expanded the reach of the Award, partnering with 40 new prisons, 329 new centres for young people with additional needs, 630 new secondary schools and 180 new community organisations.
- We have refreshed our digital training offer, quality framework and resources, to better support our incredible DofE Managers, Leaders and volunteers.
- Young people have given over 10 million volunteering hours in the last three years – demonstrating the positive impact young people are having in their communities.
What’s next for our Youth Without Limits strategy?
Reaching one million young people is a special milestone, but it’s critical that as many young people as possible have the chance to do their DofE, building the skills they need to take on today’s toughest challenges. We want to reach even more young people and have an even greater impact.
So, we’ve now set ourselves an even bigger ambition. We want to see 1.6 million young people start their DofE by spring 2026.
We know that with your continued support we’ll get there, and help more young people than ever to discover their own potential through DofE – like Award holder Abigail, who said: “Getting out of my comfort zone has been a massive thing for me. I don’t think you realise what you’re achieving until you’ve actually achieved it. DofE has encouraged me to do so many things I would not otherwise have done.”
