Duke of Edinburgh fuck up - Help!

[Slightlyjaded]

Hello. DD is doing her DOE bronze and I thought we had to submit her 3 choices together with the (volunteering/skill/activity) next week but it's today. We have sorted her skill and can hopefully pull activity out of the bag but we've fucked up on the volunteering. Ages ago I spoke to a teacher at her primary who said she would be happy to find something for her to do, but this has fallen apart as we can't coordinate anything outside of school ours (when DD is obviously at school herself).

Local charity shops are already over-run with DOE kids.

A local pet groomer/dog walker has said she is happy for DD to spend Sat mornings with the dogs/sweeping fur from grooming/walking/answering the phone but they are not a charity. Would this count?

I have to submit for today and can't find a number for DOE - just a contact form. Panicking!

Thanks.

Crikey, you'd think the OP had confessed to doing her daughter's university coursework!

OP is being perfectly reasonable here.

I’m a DofE leader. Helping the dog groomer definitely wouldn’t count for volunteering (NB vets don’t either). Parkrun is great.
Put something down and change it later.

Hey OP - I would be trying to help out in the same way. Ignore the negative comments. Put down anything and change it later. Then when DD is home get her to email or call the local area Guide / Scout groups. In our area there was a generic form to fill in with preferences for which evening / how old the kids would be. My DCs did this and loved the groups they ended up helping with and stayed on after their DofE requirements ended.

Bloody hell some people are right grumps! I'd help my daughter out, my husband or a friend if they'd got in a pickle with something!

I agree shove school down and sort out later!!

Put the school down, change later, happens all the time.

I'd help out too, hope it gets sorted. My DS helped at Beavers, DD hopes to help at one of her sports clubs or an animal rescue, friends have done similar or foodbank, old folks home, after school clubs. I would say its fairly usual for the parents to help out a little with the organising especially for bronze.

I agree to put anything down and change it if needed (my DS never had to submit activities in advance, so I presume this is the school trying to make sure that the students are actually doing something?)

A word of caution about park run, that they may always need volunteers but they don't necessarily want to be overrun with teenagers doing it for their DofE. DS had to wait a few months before they had a spot for him as our local park run restricts the number of volunteers under 16 at any one time.

If I remember correctly, you are allowed one change per level so as long as you have the other 2 sorted, just put something for now.

Volunteering doesn't have to be for a charity, just a not for profit organisation. Fundraising is an acceptable activity so she could do something to raise money for a local animal shelter or another charity or organisation she would like to support.

If she does any extra curricular activities outside of school that are not for profit, that can provide an opportunity for volunteering too that might be easier to organise eg if she is in a drama group or choir or sports team, she can help set up and clear up afterwards, do admin tasks, fundraise for the group to buy equipment.

you can volunteer to do lots of stuff, doesn't need to be a charity.

Lots of dds friends help out in the library at school!

The deadline is not set in stone. You can submitt at any point, and change activitiy. The dates are just to make sure they get started. Some kids do all their skill, and then 6 months later, all their volunteering.

A - it isn't a DoE deadline, it's a school deadline, so if it's a few days late it won't matter.

B - activities submitted can be changed.

C - dog walking is fine - it does't have to be a charity at all, so no fuck-ups have occurred.

Thank you everyone.

I'll tell her to go with the school option and we will try and figure out the logistics. If we can't make that work there is an option of her helping out at a non-profit, but she isn't going to get that confirmed today.

I really appreciate all the ideas and understanding. I do appreciate that the DOE is about encouraging independence and I really do have a million other pressing things to be focussed on, but sometimes you just have to step in and be a mum so a mess can be resolved, so thank you to those that understand.

I'll tell her to go with the school option and we will try and figure out the logistics.

That's definitely the right thing to do. My son changed his volunteering from the original thing he put down and there wasn't a problem. I helped my son with a few things at the beginning but once he got started he managed it independently. There's some absolute arseholes on this thread, if you child needs a bit of help, you help them, not stand back and watch them fail. Sometimes we all need a bit of help.

I’ll also ditto the Park Run suggestion if the school volunteer8ng doesn’t work out. DS volunteers at the local Park Run for his Gold DoE and he really enjoys it- he’ll be able to stop at the end of February but is planning on doing it right through summer until he starts uni because he’s enjoying it so much.

OP. I'm sorry, I don't have any advice for you, but I do hope you've managed to sort something out. Please ignore the posters who are making comments about independence etc. I find it incredible how, some people have such a harsh point of view when it comes to other people's dcs, especially when you've already said that a series of unexpected and awful events over the summer pushed this matter to the back of your minds.

Blimey there are some nasty people on this thread.
I help people out sometimes, you know, "just because". Maybe 'Just because I can' maybe 'Just because they need a bit of support' maybe 'Just because we all need a hand in life sometimes', . Some of you seem to lack a little understanding, to say the least.

@titchy is spot on with all 3 points though.