13 year old ds doing DOE award. What can he do for volunteering?

[losenotloose]

I've enquired at two places related to animals and they both won't accept under fourteens. Apparently he has to have the volunteering sorted within the next two weeks to take part. Any suggestions?!

Parkrun or junior parkrun - an hour a week, very easy roles, some suitable for a teen alone, some need an adult (marshalling)

Helping at beavers/cubs/scouts? I've only had experience of girlguiding but know that lots of young people volunteer as part of their DofE.

charity shop work, helping at a scout or beavers group, helping in local library (he can read to the kids once a week for an hour)

Local church - help out with the youth groups of making the tea?

Running a club for younger students at school?

My Ds did dog walking for a friend.

Litter picking? Our local community organised litter picks accept all ages

Great suggestions! I'll put them to him.

How much volunteering does he have to do and over what period of time?

Dd helped with gymnastics classes.

sports club, junior members doing their DOE volunteer with the younger members at our club

DS did football as his physical and helped with the younger groups for his volunteering. He may do similar at his boxing club for the next one.

DS is a Young Leader for local scout group. Friends have volunteered at charity shops. Is there not a long list on the website?

I feel sure I read on here that you can put anything on the form at this point, but change the volunteering plan much later, if a better other opportunity arises. When does he turn 14? When is his deadline to submit all the evidence?

I thought the volunteering had to be a bit more formal than 'walk the dog for a friend'. Happy to be corrected, though.

Dd coached the young kids in the sport she plays, her friend did messy church. She runs it now, 2 yrs later.
Beavers and scouts are crying out for help.

Visiting a care home or helping at an after school club? Could he help in the school library at lunchtime?

I helped out with Y7 hockey club which was at lunchtime so I got it done as part of my school day.

Police cadets counted, St John Ambulnce, scouts, guides, local wildlife trust, local parks? Sports groups?

Bobbed in to say Parkrun and see it's already been mentioned.

It's a great thing to do and possibly less 'run of the mill' than the usual/typical DoE volunteering?

Yeah, dog walking isn't really the sort of thing they're looking for, but there are some great ideas here.

Does he have mates doing it? Can they get together to plan, organise and run a fund raising activity? So over the time period, they meet yp to plan what they are going to do, how they're going to raise money and for what, make whatever they need to and then actually hold the activity itself. So for example, some of ours have done the Flourishing Fivers scheme.

Yeah, dog walking isn't really the sort of thing they're looking for, but there are some great ideas here.

Well my DC got their Bronze DofE by doing it for the volunteering section so....

Our son's school suggest cadets - there's police, fire, army, air force, etc - it's not really aimed at people wanting to take a career, also St John ambulance do similar. My son joined the police cadets and did volunteering through them which was helping with cycle post-coding, helping distribute refreshments at charity runs etc. He never had any intention of joining the police - they knew that and it wasn't an issue.

I used to visit the old folks home and read to some residents.
Also, candy striped at the hospital (take round drinks and snacks)

DD's a summer baby too so struggled to get anything as she wasn't quite 14 but ended up helping at the local primary after school club. She loved it!

Royal Voluntary Service (was the WRVS - I didn't realise the name had changed, but I did know you didn't have to be female).

Sorry, scratch that - they're 14 minimum too.