|Katie Hunter

Earlier this week, three groups from St Andrew’s and St Bride’s High School set out to complete their bronze and silver Duke Of Edinburgh expeditions.

The Duke of Edinburgh Award, founded by the Duke himself 60 years ago, is a programme designed to encourage young people aged 14 to 24 to take on a range of activities which develop a number of their skills – leadership, perseverance, team work and communication. You will also make new friendships, experience breathtaking scenery and gain memories that will stay with you for ever.

So what can participants expect? The award is made up of three levels – bronze, silver and gold – encompassing four to five crucial sections including volunteering, physical, skill and perhaps the most memorable being the expedition This involves the young people planning, training for and completing an adventurous journey in the UK or abroad.

As one of the first pupils of St Andrews and St Brides to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh award I wasn’t sure what to expect and so I thought it would be useful for those of you contemplating whether to take part, to outline some questions which were certainly racing through my mind when the programme was offered to pupils. I hope the answers will help you to understand what a positive impact this experience can have on your life.

What was the most challenging part of succeeding in passing your Duke of Edinburgh award?

For our team, the most difficult section had to be the expedition. Having carried out a challenging practice expedition in the month of June, we were aware that a great deal of work had to be put in to receive a positive outcome. To tell the truth, navigation was never our strongest point and this led to acouple of instances where we struggled to reach our desired location. However, we were able to get out and about during the summer holidays on a couple of occasions where we could put our map reading skills to the test before the final expedition and this also improved our physical fitness following trails ranging in difficulty.

How many people can there be in each expedition group?

The conditions state that each group must consist of between 4 and 7 people. From experience, it is advisable to form a group with people who have a range of abilities and talents. For example, in our group, some members were stronger physically and were able to focus on motivating others to keep pushing to reach agreed checkpoints. On the other hand, it was clear that there were people who were stronger in areas such as cooking and map reading and could therefore provide help to those who were less confident. We found this attributed to our teams success.

What does the expedition entail?

For bronze, silver and gold levels of the award, there is an expedition element which must be passed in order to progress and these differ in lengths (bronze – 1 night, 2 days, silver – 2 nights, 3 days and gold – 3 nights, 4 days). Throughout this period of time, you must spend a number of hours journeying. At silver level, this involved the team walking for around 6 hours a day. Although this may not seem too daunting, with a reasonably heavy rucksack and moderately difficult terrain, members of the team soon begin to moan and groan about tiredness and aches and pains. Each night of your expedition, you are expected to set up your tent (typically 2 to 3 people in each), cook dinner using a small makeshift stove using a trangia and brief your instructor on the following day’s route. For the silver and gold award, this may be wild camping. Having no toilets had previously been a huge concern of mine but in all honestly, it was the least of my worries after everything I had conquered throughout the day. My team and I particularly enjoyed reaching camp after a long and physically challenging day, as we were able to unwind, have a laugh round the campfire and that hot meal certainly improves everyone’s mood (even if its does come from a boil in the bag!!).

Which activities could I participate in to complete the physical and skills sections of the award?

Personally, for the skills section, I made good use of the extra curricular clubs I was already attending. For my bronze award, I used my reporting skills for this very newspaper and for my silver award, I played an active role as the chairperson for the school’s senior public speaking team. However, there are many other clubs and activities you can take advantage of in order to pass this section, for example, learning a musical instrument, improving painting and artwork skills or even baking for all you budding chefs! As for physical, it’s simple. Just choose a sport you currently participate in or would like to improve in. You must devote one hour of your week to each of these sections so its important to select an activity you will enjoy.

Where can I volunteer?

Although it may not be something you are currently involved in, our community provides many interesting and rewarding volunteering opportunities. Most sports clubs will allow those who have previous
ly played to volunteer with juniors, many churches will allow young people to assist with children’s liturgy, coffee mornings or even set them up with the Saint Vincent De Paul charity. There are even opportunities to volunteer within the school – sports clubs, homework club, fairtrade and other extra – curricular activities are always looking for members to lend a hand. Right now is a perfect opportunity to seek a placement within the school with the launch of the “SASB friendship with Damu” where we aim to raise money for Mary’s Meals in order to provide children less fortunate that ourselves with a daily school meal.


I hope this article has given you some food for thought if you are considering applying to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh award. I would fully endorse this amazing experience, which can also have give you an edge in University and/or job applications.

Share this Post