Isle of Wight young people recognized for completing Bronze and Silver DofE Awards

Network Ryde, Ryde Town Council’s Youth Service, are delighted to announce that they have successfully presented 29 awards to their young people who have completed their Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh’s (DofE) Awards.

The award ceremony took place at the George Street Centre in Ryde, on Thursday 1st December, and was attended by proud parents, family, friends of Network Ryde and Ryde Town Council Councillors.

Award presentation
The Under Sheriff, April Newton, presented 25 Bronze and four Silver Awards, and Ryde’s Mayor, Cllr Michael Lilley, closed the evening, congratulating the young people.

This was a fantastic opportunity for the guests to see the behind-the-scenes moments of DofE, which were full of wonderful and funny memories which the young people will remember fondly for the rest of their lives.

Skill, Voluntary, Physical and Expedition
The Duke of Edinburgh’s award is organised into different sections: Skill, Voluntary, Physical and Expedition. The young people can choose their sections and have to evidence their journey with pictures and written accounts which are uploaded to ‘eDofE’ and assessed to ensure they have met their goals.

The young people then have to plan the expedition section; they first plan a practice route, and then plan an assessed expedition to complete their award.

Whole group of Bronze and Silver DofE participants at the George St Centre

The expeditions
The Bronze Award is two days, one night, and the Silver award is three days, two nights.

Before the expeditions, the young people plan their walking routes, learn map reading skills, and how to put up a tent; they also learn about what food to bring and how to successfully pack a rucksack.

During the award ceremony, three young people shared an insight into their sections: Chloe Neale talked about dancing, which was her physical section, Emily Mackinnon talked about helping a relative, her volunteer section, and Harrison Shaer talked about the Bronze expeditions.

Network Ryde’s busiest year for DofE Awards
This has been Network Ryde’s busiest year for Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, with much of the summer holidays spent out on expeditions. Our small team (Bex, Jo and Phil) attended all the expeditions over the summer, and even camped at the end of October!

We also have a wonderful DofE volunteer, John Grimes, who also helps out. Sharing this experience with the young people really highlights the benefits of the award scheme; you see first-hand, what they go through, and how their confidence and resilience grows during the expeditions.

It is a testament to Network Ryde’s success that the bronze DofE groups for next year are already fully signed up.

Swan: We work hard to provide an inclusive youth service
Bex Swan, Network Ryde’s Youth Work Manager comments,

“We are so proud of all of our young people for completing their Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards at Network Ryde.
“As a team, we work hard to provide an inclusive youth service, and love the time we spend, out on expeditions, and supporting our young people on their DofE journey.
“We look forward to the next year!”

Bronze and Silver Awards
Bronze Awards were presented to: