Whatever the obstacles – personal, physical, social, financial or emotional – we celebrate the young people who’ve persevered to achieve something personally life-changing, rewriting the rules on what they thought was possible. 

Congratulations to the winner of Boundary Breaker of the Year.

This year’s Boundary Breaker encompasses everything about this category, a young person who has persevered and demonstrated extraordinary resilience to reach his goals.

With a difficult start in life, experiencing significant trauma and being in care from the age of five, there have been multiple challenges to his DofE journey. While he is enrolled at a specialist social, emotional and mental health school, this environment can be triggering and so it is the time spent at Birkheads Wild that he describes as his "happy place", and where he started his DofE journey.

Having missed several years of education and this having a negative impact on his self-esteem and confidence, Fiona, Chief Executive of Birkheads Wild, says she has never worked with a young person facing so many barriers to participation. Yet, he has been able to actively participate, complete all his sections and do his expedition, while constantly pushing himself out of his comfort zone.

"I definitely feel proud of myself for doing my DofE. I feel more confident now I’ve done it and completed it, and I’m looking forward to doing my Silver. I think in the future, it will help me get a job."

Going into his Bronze Award with complex social and emotional needs, the additional challenges he needed to navigate included socialising with his peers and other adults, and the darkness at night which can cause flashbacks of previous trauma. Therefore, camping overnight in a tent was a huge obstacle to overcome. But he did so, with support from his key worker, Adam, doing an additional overnight camp at Birkheads Wild prior to the practice expedition. Through supporting him to practise mindfulness activities, keep calm and regulate his emotions, he was also able to control his anxiety and could interact better with his peers. By the time of his qualifying expedition, he surpassed all the team’s expectations and took the expedition in his stride, even surprising himself with how much he enjoyed it.

"After I finished my expedition, I felt proud, tired, drained, but also happy. I can’t say what the best bit of it was because I enjoyed the whole thing – I wasn’t expecting it to be that good."

Kai

Fifteen-year-old Kai is determined that their condition, Graves’ disease, won’t define or restrict them in life. Battling many symptoms that are invisible but still debilitating, Kai achieved their Bronze DofE Award and is now striving towards their Silver. They believe in always "moving forwards, setting challenges and helping others along the way."

"I enjoy the flexibility of doing my DofE – it isn’t prescriptive at all."

Kai began their DofE journey as a way to feel independent and embrace adventure. Despite not knowing how they would feel moment to moment, Kai fully welcomed the challenge of their Expedition section: they took on the gauntlet of map reading and motivating others in their team – no easy feat, especially when they were feeling unwell themselves.  

 Kai’s Volunteering section – coaching a netball club – has been revolutionary in their life, making them realise their passion and "newfound confidence" for coaching younger children and teaching in general. Now, Kai is looking forward to continuing working at their Silver Award, meeting new groups of people and making new memories. At school, Kai is thriving despite the restrictions of their condition – they have even been nominated for senior prefect. 

Corey

Moving to Birkheads Wild and beginning his Bronze DofE have been life-changing for 15-year-old Corey. He is "unrecognisable" from where he was 2-3 years ago and has truly thrived in an outdoor environment. Corey’s Leader, Fiona, claims that "the DofE is helping to rewrite his story."

Corey has ADHD and autism and finds certain situations very overwhelming – especially mainstream school. But through doing the DofE at Birkheads, he came to realise his love of the outdoors and that being in nature alleviates his feelings of overwhelm: "when I’m outdoors I can focus more, I have clarity."

"The DofE has really been life-changing for me. It’s helped me get a job I love!"

Corey credits the DofE with helping him get a job he loves at an outdoor activity centre. Through his Volunteering section, Corey was able to show his enthusiasm and passion for outdoor activities such as orienteering, bush craft and laser tag – and even contributed double the hours needed to complete his Volunteering section. The centre was so impressed with Corey that they offered him a job which he now works at after school, weekends and in the holidays.

Corey’s resilience and level-headedness came into play during his Bronze expedition in the Lake District. When he and his team ran into severe weather conditions on Ullswater, Corey kept calm and collected. The group were stuck on a canoe in a sudden storm, rendering it an "emergency situation". Corey was able to stay resolute and focused on helping his team, stepping up as leader in that moment.