To think D of E is a massive swindle

[DofEswindle]

Namechanged in case DD sees this!

She's doing Duke of Edinburgh Bronze with the school for the bargain (hah!) price of £250. I thought everything would be included for that money but we've now been told they need to get a rucksack liner ("no bin bags!") and fancy Wayfarer meal sachets ("no pot noodles!") as well as being told we can hire sleeping mats, sleeping bags etc. if we don't have them.

It just feels like a massive cash-in by the company organising it and Go Outdoors etc to make as much money as they can from gullible parents (me). I assumed the kids would meal plan together and work out what supplies to bring but they've all been told to get special sachets of ready meals at £4.50 each ("no pot noodles" but they are basically posh pot noodles).

Surely D of E should be about teamwork and loving the outdoors not sending your mum to spend a fortune in a camping shop? We're not on benefits so couldn't claim any help from school but £250 is an awful lot of money to spend a night in a field.

Aye, it was an expensive thing for my kids to hate every minute!

parkrun is free to participate in, weekly so that's the physical sorted.
Volunteering at junior parkrun is also free and exceedingly useful.
Learning a language on duolingo is also free.

If a student doesn't have the admin skills to record what they do each week, then its probably a good time for them to learn them.

That is a lot more than what mine have spent.
there is support from dofe towards the costs. I know this as my daughter is a. Ambassador and has raised money to help others.

You have to pay? I did Bronze, Silver and Gold and we never paid anything and nobody dictated what kit or meals we had to take. Times have changed I guess from 25 years ago. In my opinion the whole thing was a vast waste of time and of no practical use at all.

Mine took pasta and packer sauces And used rubble sacks. No cost beyond the expedition expenses, tebts , rucksacks etc were borrowed from the scheme.

Indeed there is and the Ambassador programme is excellent.

https://www.dofe.org/access-without-limits-funding/

So expensive. DS has just completed bronze and it was £60.

DS did his bronze and now his silver with scouts. There was a registration fee each time £25 ish and the bronze expedition was £30 which included food which they bought and planned themselves. They had pot noodles as a hot lunch then made a proper pasta dinner in the evening. All the shared kit came from the scouts included in the price, and all the person kit has been used multiple times since on normal camp trips/hikes.

My Foster son has a learning disability and did Bronze and Silver awards. He is actually very fit and sporty. I was a bit worried but I was told he was a very strong team member and he could do his Gold if he wanted to.

These costs have really surprised me. DS did his bronze award this year, teachers in school run it. He had all the kit anyway because he’s an Explorer Scout, and then all I paid for was food for his expedition.

Mine took big bags and rice supermarket meals, porridge, pasta and sauce. They meal planned. Pot noddles were not banned.

If you have to get stuff from Go Outdoors see if you borrow a scout as our local one offeres discounts to scouts so get them to 'buy' the tuff you need.

I think I may have got my silver award under false pretenses. It was a few years ago but we stayed in youth hostels and on the last day we had a pub lunch with our teachers. It was a very cheap and pleasant few days.

£50 for mine all in inc minibus and all equipment. They took pasta and stuff from here. Loved it.
£500 for my friend’s DD…
too much profiteering for sure!

Rubble bags are perfectly fine. We paid nearer 500 for d of e. Shocking

No need to be a scout to get a discount at Go Outdoors.

https://www.dofe.org/shopping/card/participants/

Fair enough…in that case…

Does anyone really think this was what the late Henry Cecil John Hunt had in mind when he conceived this scheme?

😉

It shouldnt cost more than the campsite and travel plus the salary of the supervisor for four days work.

I paid, and DC did the practice expedition but doesn’t want to continue with the scheme.

School holidays are coming up and DC wants to do some activities that need to be paid for in advance. I’ll was going to explain that I’d usually be fine with it, but don’t want things to go the same way as DofE and waste more money.

Instead, I think I’ll just carry on as if DC hasn’t changed their mind and pack and sort arrangements and then explain as above if they push it.

It’s really annoying because I know there’s a risk that DC will conveniently feel unwell or something if I make them go. If so, will need collecting, which is more hassle. I’m still thinking it over, and might give teachers the heads up if DC ends up going.

Good idea if DC doesn’t go, I’ll deduct full costs from any money they earn and get. Not kidding as I’m so cross they think it’s ok to be so frivolous.

I think our school might of changed it in response to cost as his silver award has been cheaper than the bronze. They have provided the tents stoves etc.

Do you know anyone that might have some of the kit? Our rucksack has done trips for scouts D of E etc not only for my kids but a friend who son and daughter go to a different school.

The kids have had to meal prep themselves and were told for this no rehydration meals type of thing. There are huge pots of pasta being cooked for both dinners and cold for lunch! Lots of snacks we have Chia Charge bars that I use for long distance swimming some emergency Kendal mint cake wrapped chocolate crepes they are individually wrapped and very flat for packing

This is how we run it. We even provide the hot meal in the evening for free too.

MIne never did D0fE as she did similar through scouts and when she went to the meeting about it at school she decided that going to Jambouree was preferable to DofE.

My Foster son has a learning disability but not only carried his own kit and a share of joint equipment but also carried stuff for a girl in his group with terrible blisters. He would've wanted to do it if it was made easier for him because of his disability.

We paid £20 to the (state) school and bought a backpack and hiking boots. Tent, compass, maps were provided. Kids brought tortellini for evening meal, easy porridge for breakfast, and a bunch of snacks like jerky, trailmix, granola bars. I thought the teachers went above and beyond so got them Costa gift cards. Definitely didn't exceed £250, wonder where that figure came from.

Fancy meal sachets?!
I just remember living on slabs of kendal mint cake when I did mine 😁