Surviving the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (commonly abbreviated to ‘D of E’) was created in 1956, 57 years ago by – you’ll never guess – the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Phillip. It was created as citizenship training for young people in the UK aged 14-25, to improve their life experiences, employability and physical fitness.

You can do the programme at three levels, which when completed, lead to a Bronze, Silver or Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award. You achieve your Award by completing a personal programme of activities in four sections (five if you're going for Gold) - Volunteering, Physical, Skills, Expedition and for Gold, a Residential. You'll find yourself helping people or the community, getting fitter, developing skills, going on an expedition and taking part in a residential activity (Gold only).

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award looks very good on your CV and it can separate the best from the rest, but don’t be fooled by this glossy cover because this award is damned hard work, it requires commitment and willpower so I would advise not signing up unless you know you’ve got what it takes. As a current student currently partaking in the Award I’m here to give you some tips on how to survive the D of E expedition:

First of all get some proper kit; a hand-me-down sleeping bag older than you will not give you any aid when it’s -1ºC outside and you need to be well rested for the next day. However, there’s no need to break the bank as some people tend to do while preparing for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Buy all the necessary equipment such as sleeping bags, rucksacks, water bottle etc, but specialist hiking clothes, cooking equipment and even sometimes hiking boots can be avoided by using cheaper alternatives and they can work just as well.
Start exercising beforehand. If you try to walk a minimum of 10km (6.4 miles) a day when usually your life consists of not moving from a sofa for 24 hours straight, you will find the D of E expedition especially hard. I’m not telling you to do anything extreme like swim the English channel or even join a gym, just start walking to school/work instead, take the stairs when you can, go on walks/bike rides etc instead of doing something sat down.
Try to bring as little liquid as possible. Obviously you’re going to need water but don’t lug around food with a high liquid content - bring things like noodle pots, dried soup and smash, because when you’re carrying a rucksack for 7 hours a day you want to make it as light as possible.
Bring lots of snacks. Never underestimate how hungry you’ll be while walking all day because if you run out of food it’s going to be hard to get more. Bringing chocolate or some other high sugar content snack because keeping energy up is very important and you can sleep all day when you get back. Also take lots of carbohydrates, as slow-releasing energy is even more important.
Pack for almost everything. You may be surprised at how quickly things can change on an expedition, so make sure you have equipment for multiple scenarios. For example, pack sunscreen and a hat, but also a thick jumper and thermal underclothes. Also, make sure you line your rucksack with a bin liner to waterproof everything inside, because you never know when one of your team mates might accidentally drop your bag in a river (which I definitely did not do).

But most of all don’t forget two things:

As cheesy as it sounds, have fun because if you don’t you’ll regret it.
When it’s all over you can go home, have a long bubble bath and eat as much cake as you want.*

*But seriously D of E is a really good scheme to take part in, you'll enjoy it.

For more information of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award please visit:
www.dofe.org/