Duke of Edinburgh

Gold DofE offers a life-changing experience. A fun time with friends. An opportunity to discover new interests and talents. A tool to develop essential skills for life and work. A recognised mark of achievement; respected by employers. 

Through our Gold DofE programme you can have fun, make friends, and develop essential skills and attributes for work and life such as resilience, problem-solving, team-working, communication and drive, enhancing university and job applications.

There are five sections to complete at Gold level:

• Physical – you need to choose any sport, dance or fitness activity – in short, anything that requires a sustained level of energy and physical activity.
• Skills – you need to choose an activity that will allow you to prove you have broadened your understanding and increased your expertise in your chosen skill.
• Volunteering – this is simple, it’s about choosing to give time to help people, the community or society, the environment or animals; your volunteering must not be done for a business but can be undertaken for a charity or not-for-profit organisation.
• Expedition – you need to plan, train for and complete an unaccompanied, self-reliant expedition with an agreed aim. 
• Residential – you need to undertake a shared activity, in a residential setting away from home and in an unfamiliar environment. You must join it individually and not with an existing group of friends or as part of a school or youth group trip.

Our provision includes:

• Weekly sessions for expedition training and to support the other sections
• An introductory camp and walk
• A navigation training expedition to the Peak District
• A practice expedition to the Yorkshire Dales
• An assessed expedition to the Lake District

We are one of the biggest providers of Gold DofE in the North-West, with approximately 50 young people achieving the award each year.

Gold DofE is an amazing opportunity offered at Blue Coat. It allowed me to develop skills in so many ways. Not only did I gain the practical skills involved in the expedition (such as navigation and camping), but also working in a team, communicating with others, and not to mention the resilience needed to complete the award. We all received expert guidance from the staff, including Miss Elliott and Dr Lawson, which led us through the whole process and allowed us to build the necessary skills for the expedition. Completing the award is a great achievement that also proves to employers and universities that you can communicate, adapt and persevere.

-Awesta