Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Volunteering - 14yr old DS

Shush, get him to volunteer to help coach younger kids one evening a week at a local hockey or rugby club then. The community rugby club I am involved with has a constant stream of youngsters doing this.

When I did mine, many moons ago the police station did a sort of course for D of E which I ended up doing because I had no other volunteering, I think it was a week long.

My DS and his friend have helped the PTA at his former primary school at various fundraising events, between Xmas Fayre, prize bingo, bag packing etc they easily got the required hours for Bronze award. His primary teachers loved seeing him again and he enjoyed being able to give something back to his old school.

He seems a tad confused however regarding the requirements for Silver as he is under the impression he cannot start his volunteering until he receives his Bronze certificate? Also his Bronze is being held up because a member of the group hasn't uploaded his evidence so none of the group will be awarded, is this really the case or he is feeding me a lot of rubbish?

we have a few who help at our local charity shops for both bronze and silver.

My DD helps out at Sundat school for her DofE.

Back You can, you just can't complete until 14 :)

OP What is he doing for his physical? Can he volunteer there? Bear in mind that if he intends to do all three levels, he can't do the same for all three levels and each level requires a bit more responsibility/effort.

For my volunteering at Bronze I assisted at a scout group.

Stupid phone.

Thats why he was 13. He did the expedition one week before his 14th birthday.
As I said earlier, he cant be signed off until he is 14.5 six months after his 14th birthday.

I know his school are fully aware of his age, we had to sign consent forms and everything!

Backforgood, I copied this from the dofe website(rubbish with links)

The tables below show you minimum timescales for each level and section. We've put the length of time in months -you need to show regular activity and commitment during this time of averaging at least an hour a week. You can't achieve an Award in a short burst of enthusiasm over one weekend!Bronze

• You can do a Bronze DofE programme once youre 14 (or nearly 14, which sometimes happens when you and your friends decide to start your adventure together. However, your Leader must get permission from their Licensed Organisation first - see p27 ofThe Handbook for DofE Leaders.)

Ds1 school is a licensed organisation I believe. They start the bronze in y r9.
Ds1 is a July baby

You can't register until you are 14 Nohysteriahere

OP, I agree with everyone else - virtually anywhere that runs activities for smaller children will take volunteers for their DofE - as long as they've got a bit about them. Uniformed organisations, sports teams, chess clubs, anywhere! Equally places that look after animals. I see you are going to try elderly care.

Ds1 was 13 when he started his bronze. It was a nightmare as he was too young to volunteer in most places.

He does a sport though and was able to use this for both the volunteer and fitness sections.

Although he did the expedition at 13, apparently he cant be signed off until he is 14.5 so still waiting to complete.

DS is helping with Scouts, but then he is doing his DoE with the associated Explorer group. I think all the helpers in the younger sections are from within Scouting.

His second option was assisting with a karate class for littleuns, which he does anyway, but he wanted to do karate for his sport and while I think you can do the same thing for two sections at bronze, you can't later on.

What are your DS's hobbies? Surely one of them has younger participants who he could help with?

For some reason charity shops are not well thought of for DoE (DS1 has done silver and was advised charity shop not suitable)

Go onto the D of E website and look under volunteering. They have loads of suggestions that maybe helpful to you.

I get lots of queries for my brownie unit. But I already have young leaders who were brownies, then guides and turn 14. Scouts take them too. A lot of my dd's friends have gone for the charity shops near us as we have lots. A few have helped with football teams, bowling teams and rugby coaching.

ds did his in the school library. What are his interests ? Could he help with a club, make tea at a day centre or care home, help raise money for a local charity, offer to do gardening or shopping for an elderly neighbour, join a local working party for a litterpick or beach clean up

I agree that he should be doing the emailing btw- if he lacks confidence you could help him compose something, but the DofE is all about building independence and initiative, so be careful you aren't taking too much of a lead in it all.

The volunteering doesn't have to be done weekly. He could for example do 2x2 hour sessions once a month.

My DD helped at a local animal sanctuary.

Her friends did things like working in charity shops, helping with brownies and helping at a food bank.

ds3 went shopping for our elderly partially sighted and not very mobile neighbour - all he had to do was go in each week to collect the list and money, do the shopping and then take it back to her where she always gave him a cup of tea and a biscuit while they had a chat about the olden days -

Your ds should be the one emailing!

X-posts, that might not be helpful, sorry.

I can't remember exactly, but I've got a feeling that dd1 helped out at lunchtime clubs for Year 7s at her school.