Lessons learnt from the Duke of Edinburgh Award

 My tips on successfully completing the Duke of Edinbugh Award 

Peak District National Park

• Sharing is caring 

As you maybe aware, there are 4 to 7 people in each expedition group. This means that you can split food and cook amongst yourselves. For example, my group and I bulk bought 2 wholemeal pasta, 2 rice packets and 2 pasta sauces (we shared the cost amongst us) and cooked them amongsts us for dinner. This was a cost effective way of cooking a large meal and it was energy saving too! 

I did my Gold expeditions during the Covid pandemic so we were able to bring more items than possible. We stayed in a Youth Hostel for the entire expedition and were able to keep any unneeded items in our room whilst we explored our aim. So instead of camping outdoors, we stayed indoors. We cleared this with our leader in the DofE head office before we undertook this.

We only took our lunch, 2 water botlles each, snacks and waterproof clothing. Since we didn't use any camping equipments, we took smaller day backpacks which were so much easier to carry! 

The hostel allowed us to use their site to light a fire for the stove and all residents in the hostel also had the chance to use the drying room. So it is worth checking this option if you are doing DofE through Dofe Direct especially since Covid is still going to be an issue for some time. 

Remember to bring snacks to keep your energy levels up! 

• Borrow/rent equipments

I am not going to lie but doing the DofE is pricey. My school rented camping equipments such as rucksackes, camping stoves, gas cannisters for the stoves and compassess as they knew that not all students could afford it. We split the costs amongst us so it became so much more cheaper.  

My brother also did DofE so it made sense for us to buy the rucksackes, clothes, food, cutleries, toiletries and our own individual hiking boots. But everything else, bar food and drinks, we rented from school. So if you know someone who did DofE, ask if you can borrow any of the equipment. This may save some costs especially since you need to pay for campsite fees too.

But remember - you cannot pack everything! So pack smart to take advantage of the limited space that the rucksacks offer. You need to split the tent amongst your team so need to make sure you have space.

Peak District National Park

• Exercise, excersice, exercise! 

It goes without saying but the DofE expeditions are mentally and physically taxing! No matter how much I thought my physical section will help with the expeditions, I was still in pain after each expeditions! I now know that this was due to a lack of endurance and stamina on my part. 

Doing a physical activity once a week is simply not enough! You need to consistently do some form of exercise everyday, including the expedition days. That way, your muscles won't be sore and your stamina and endurance will keep you going no matter how bad the weather gets. 

Also exercise with your packed rucksackes especially climbing steep areas. That way you can get used to the weight of rucksack on your back and build up stamina too. If you get sore, make sure you do upper body exercises so that you can build muscles and strengthen your back. This was a mistake I made and I still get pain as I didn't look after my back well. 

• And lastly enjoy!

Most people do the DofE to enhance their CVs and whilst this has some truth, it doesn't take away from the fact that it makes you a capable and all rounded individual. You now know that you can survive camping and hopefully it is something you can do later on in the life. 

You may never do something like this again so despite the mental and physical effort it will be worth it in the end! You may never get a chance to do something like the DofE, especially after the age of 25 so do make sure to enjoy it whilst you can!