To think this a crazy price for DofE Silver Award

[Fgsvirgin]

School have just sent the letter. (Not a fee paying school.)

It is £420 (plus a £50 deposit).

That seems like an awful lot to me for a trip where you have to provide the transport there and back yourself, provide the food and some of the kit.

The price is set by the third party company organising it and does include training sessions (not an overnight session just a couple of classroom based sessions and one 7 hr walk), the registration fee and loan/hire of the tent, cooking stove thing and coat/waterproof bottoms and sleeping bag if you want. This is what the deposit is for.

Does that not seem a really expensive hike to you?

I suppose I’m comparing it to other school trips where they get a couple of nights away with food and transport for less than £300.

I should have seen it coming when Bronze was £300 but I paid that blindly thinking that is how much these things cost!

If your child did D/E Silver, how much was it?

(I realise the key here is that there is a third party company arranging it so I suppose I’m looking for responses from those who also have experience with third party D/E companies.)

I am still curious about why the expedition part is such a big deal? Why? I assume it's good for learning how to do organising/planning/team work etc but surely the equipment part of it is what makes the whole scheme expensive and really it's not an everyday normal life experience !

Surely teens doing silver or gold want to be there.
If they’re disinterested they shouldn’t be doing it.
My dd and her friends loved it. They worked incredibly hard and the volunteers were amazing.
Sad to think parents complain when their dc are so privileged.

4 days Wild camping in Windermere then 4 days in Snowdonia.

You can’t imagine why this might be challenging and a special experience?

Another question - is there a simplified version for children with disabilities/health conditions who couldn't do the expedition part?
(I'm just curious - my daughter is autistic and she just simply wouldn't be able to do that part)

@Quincythequince I am genuinely curious about it. Yes it's challenging, yes it's an experience but it seems such a massive part of the whole scheme (and the expensive part).

@Quincythequince I mean compared to the volunteering side of it - which I personally would find more rewarding (if I was of the age to be doing it).

Yes, there are adjustments made for all disabilities at Bronze Level, and for some at Silver. I'm not sure about Gold, as we've not offered Gold yet.

e.g locally there was a mixed Bronze group (disabled/ abled/ ND/ NT) who kayaked (there are many alternatives to hiking), some with carers, camped and kayaked the next day.

Thanks @Puffalicious . I had briefly looked at the scheme to see if it would suit my girl.
She is autistic, was out of school for over 2 years and desperately needs to catch up her confidence etc.
But the expedition/outdoors stuff would be just no good for her.
She simply would not want to do it or would be able to cope with it.

There are reasonable adjustments throughout the scheme, although obviously you can't get the award if you don't do what is needed for the award.
One of the folk one of my dc did his Gold Training, practice and expedition with has Autism, and another had some physical disabilities. It took a lot of extra planning to make the expedition work but all the Young People achieved it.

Thanks @KittyKatBlue

Sorry ignore that @KittyKatBlue . I meant to press @Kite22 .
Thanks @Kite22 . I don't think DofE is for her.
I like the look of NCS but think it's a shame she can't do that now (age 14) rather than waiting until post GCSEs.

@Needmorelego have you looked into Guides or Scouts (or Boys/Girls Brigade) for your DD? She would get the same sort of experiences there but more spread out and with the local leaders who can get to know her each week and would be able to gauge what things she could do?

@Mamansparkles thanks. She did Rainbows when younger but didn't want to carry on.
She is at a SEN school now so she is learning some independence skills etc there.

Quite. Scouting costs less than many other organisations as we fundraise for equipment and don’t charge our time compared to say swimming coaches or football coaches.

Our explorers would be expected to pay for their food and campsite fees themselves if run in a small group or if organised by the group it would be a contribution. We obviously wouldn’t need to hire the gear but many do purchase their own.

Hi
Need more. I can see many others have provided info and I have nothing more useful to add.
Reasonable adjustments can be made for sure.
If she hasn’t done Bronze, start with that as it’s just one night camping.

Gold is a lot more work. My lad who’s just finished it said he found it hard going, but rewarding.

From what I can tell some assessors are more brutal than others, but all in all if well prepared, she should be ok.

Good luck to her if she wants to give it a go

@Quincythequince thanks. It was more me that thought she might find it interesting but I think now I have looked into it it's definitely not one for her 🙂

My children did theirs through the school.

Bronze was £75
Silver £150
Gold about £400 all in i think

Ouch! We paid £70, this included use of the tents and stoves. We paid a further £8 for the one night practice expedition (plus drove kids there, fairly local and carpooled) then paid £80 for the main expedition for the campsites and the coach both ways. School in poor area in special measures, teacher was the lead and school owned the equipment.

£90 with school for silver d of e with school, they will loan tents, stoves etc

Good to know when Prince Charle's had bagfuls of cash sent to him for his 'charities' that it went to good causes. FFS the Royals are rolling in it, it's an award with their name they should bloody well stump up some cash.

£300 for DD to do silver. Does seem very pricy now have read you can do it much cheaper. We have managed to borrow a rucksack and have the clothes/boots. Everything else is included (should hope so!).

Extortionate, especially considering it's probably mainly staffed by volunteers. I'd be asking the school for a breakdown of that sum.

Price up the equipment. I’m £250 down on waterproofs and thermals, a bivi bag and a torch essentially (& a couple of T-shirts) …. If that’s all the equipment it could save you a fortune!

my Daughters just done bronze and we paid £100

My daughters off to France for less than that.