Awards

Gold Duke of Edinburgh's award

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Stand out from the crowd with the Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s (DofE) award

Want to try new things, make a difference and have exciting adventures? Then DofE Gold is the award for you! It’s open to Rangers and young leaders aged 16 and over, and adult members aged 18-25.

Why should I get involved?

Doing DofE Gold will give you skills, confidence and an edge over others when you apply for college or university. You’ll develop communication, leadership and teamwork skills as well making a difference to other people’s lives and your community. You’ll also go on an exciting (and very challenging!) expedition and have memories to last you a lifetime.

Not only that, there’s a whole bunch of employers who value the DofE when hiring.

You’ll also get your achievement celebrated at a presentation with a member of the Royal Family. So, it really is a big deal!

What does it entail?

For Gold, you’ll need to do your programme for at least 12 months if you’ve achieved your Silver award, or 18 months if you’ve started at Gold level without doing your Silver – even if you’ve done the Bronze award.

The big difference at Gold is you’ll also do a Residential section.

  • Volunteering section for 12 months.
  • Physical and Skills sections: one section for 12 months and the other section for 6 months.
  • Expedition section for 4 days (3 nights).
  • Residential section: undertake a shared activity in a residential setting away from home for 5 days (4 nights) with people you don’t know.

If you didn’t do Silver, you must undertake a further 6 months in either the Volunteering or the longer of the Physical or Skills sections.

You can find more information on the timescales and the sections as well as lots more information on the DofE website.

Ready to get started?

We deliver DofE in lots of areas. This can depend on the number of volunteers, so we may not run it where you are. However, we'll do our best to support you. 

Speak to your leader about registering for DofE Gold and they’ll help you find your nearest group.

Don't feel ready for Gold, get started with DofE Silver instead!