The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award to reach more young people from most deprived areas thanks to new partnership with The Julia and Hans Rausing Trust
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) will be able to reach more young people in the UK’s most deprived areas thanks to a £3 million donation from Julia and Hans Rausing.
The grant, given over three years, will help the charity to pinpoint the most deprived areas across the UK where there are few or no opportunities for young people to take part in DofE. It will then enable the DofE to support community organisations, including youth clubs, faith groups and sports clubs to start running DofE programmes, providing training for staff and volunteers and funding for young people facing financial difficulties.
The work will support the DofE’s ambition to build on The Duke of Edinburgh’s legacy by reaching an additional one million young people over the next five years, providing targeted help for young people who face additional barriers or need specialist support to do DofE, such as young offenders or young people with special educational needs or disabilities.
Ruth Marvel, CEO, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, said, “The pandemic has had a seismic impact on young people’s lives, affecting their job opportunities, mental health and education. Marginalised young people have been hardest hit. But time and again we’ve seen them show that – with the right opportunities – their potential is limitless.
“The support of Julia and Hans Rausing will let us bring the DofE to young people who don’t currently have the chance to take part – so they can build their resilience and self-belief and discover new skills to help them do better in education and have the future they want.”
Julia and Hans Rausing said: “The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award has done incredible work over the past 65 years, supporting young people at a vitally important time in their lives.
“Over the past year we have seen first-hand how the pandemic has impacted the lives of young people through our £8 million Youth Centre Recovery Fund. We are delighted to support the charity to ensure HRH The Duke of Edinburgh’s legacy continues and this excellent award can be experienced by young people whatever their background or circumstances.”
This is the first time The Julia and Hans Rausing Trust and DofE have worked together on a project. Julia and Hans Rausing have a longstanding history of supporting young people and youth programmes and the DofE plans to collaborate with other youth organisations funded by them.
