I remember well the day my quiet, shy, non sporty or adventurous daughter came home and excitedly told me about a talk they had in assembly at school about the DofE scheme, and she wanted to do it!
We went along to the further information session, which provided us with all the information we needed to know it was a safe, organised, skill based programme that would benefit our child in so many ways. So she signed up for the Bronze Award!

The following months were filled with after school skill building sessions such as cooking, putting up a tent, orienteering, first aid, use of equipment, and team bonding.
At weekends they arranged walks of various lengths, further map reading (which helped her GCSE Geography) and outdoor cooking sessions and in my daughters spare time she was completing the skills section doing volunteering activities, exercise and showed more dedication to practicing her piano to develop her skill.
Then the time came and they did the final 2 day walk and camp and there was nervous excitement as we dropped them off at the start point to meet the others in their small team. She returned the next day sore and ready for a long soak and sleep with many stories to tell, wounds to heal and her kit to clean, with a sparkle in her eyes and joy in her voice as she told me with a sense of pride and achievement how tough it was, at times hated it, other times loved it but she wasn’t going to be beaten and exclaimed

‘I DID IT!’

They were awarded their certificates at the information evening encouraging the next year group to participate, which now sits in a frame on her wall, and she occasionally mentions something from her DofE experience that makes me smile and I feel so proud that she took that step to go out of her comfort zone to participate. I definitely feel she has gained valuable life skills and self confidence from participating. Thankyou DofE.