Duke of Edinburgh's Award in Derbyshire
Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) programmes are delivered across Derbyshire by schools, voluntary organisations, youth clubs and open DofE Centres. We are the DofE operating authority and are licence holders for the delivery of DofE in Derbyshire.
The scheme in Derbyshire
We believe that every young person in Derbyshire should be able to access Duke of Edinburgh's Award locally to where they live. Currently (April 2012):
There are over 5,875 participants involved in DofE in Derbyshire − a 47 per cent increase in the last two years.
The council supports 72 DofE centres across Derbyshire.
Of these 39 are secondary schools supporting 83 per cent of Derbyshire DofE participants as part of their extra-curricular activities.
Other DofE centres include five in other educational settings, five in additional needs settings, four in looked after children settings and 16 in voluntary youth organisations.
There are two Open DofE Centres run by volunteers − one in Glossop and one in Chesterfield.
Independent participants
In Derbyshire young people unable to access DofE through their school or locality can enrol as independent participants at all levels of the award.
We support them with information and advice on their DofE programmes. Access to expedition opportunities is offered through Lea Green and White Hall outdoor activity centres.
eDofE system
DofE is moving with the times and in September 2009 record books were replaced by eDofE, an online system for recording achievements.
This has proved very popular with 1,480 Bronze, 598 Silver and 323 Gold participation places allocated - a total of over 2,400 new DofE participants in the first 30 months of using the system.
Celebrating achievement
We celebrate the achievement of young people in Derbyshire who complete their DofE awards and invite them, their parents/carers and leaders to one of the three presentation evenings held every year at County Hall, Matlock.
In 2011 a total of 469 DofE Awards (313 Bronze, 122 Silver and 34 Gold Awards) were presented (a 27 per cent increase on 2010).
Congratulations to each and every participant!