Duke of Edinburgh Award
In 2019 I achieved my duke of Edinburgh with my local explorer unit the Stour Valley Explorers based in kedington Suffolk where I had to complete a set of 4 challenges in order to be awarded. The award consists of 4 different components: Physical - do some form of physical activity for 3 months; Volunteering - volunteer for a charity or local cause for 3 months; Skills - Practice a skill for 3 months; an expedition consisting of 2 days/1 night and 6 hours of travelling. As well as this you need to complete a further 3 months of one of the previous 3 month activities. Due to Covid I shortly left the explorer unit and therefore did not achieve a higher award, I was in the process of completing my silver award at the time but did not finish.
Physical For this section i went to the gym twice a week for 6 months and had a one of the gym staff sign and date a form to show proof at the beginning and end of the period that i had been attending. As a regular gym goer I did not have to change my schedule and therefore i used this section for my extended section of 6 months.
Volunteering For this section i returned to my very first unit under the scouts group which was beavers which i had attended from 6-8 years old where i stayed for roughly 1 year. Here I had to help out with activities set out by the group leader by teaching and leading these children in these activities, Young leaders were also asked to lead several nights throughout and plan activities for the children which i organised with he other young leaders. Being a young leader was a far more challenging experience than I had anticipated as children of that age are excitable and eager to learn, but allowed we practice leadership, clear communication and patience.
Skill For this section I decided to use one of previous hobbies which was go-karting with a club in Redlodge Suffolk where every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month i would compete in 3 heats and a final race and whoever had gained the most amount of points would receive a trophy for first, second and third, these points would then contribute to the yearly league. During this year i achieved 2nd place overall in the 270cc class.
Expedition For this section we hiked and camped near Thetford forest walking around 15km each day with rucksacks containing camping gear weighing around 10kg each and only navigating using a map and compass and then setting up camp, cooking and sleeping at a campsite along route. Part of this expedition was planning the route beforehand, preparing camping equipment and organising our team which was prepared the previous months. The expidition was an overall success but it did ecounter many problems along the way: it rained the entire time so it was difficult to stay dry and warm, one of our members had recentky dignosed spine issues and so we needed part of their supplies and we went off route a few times.
