Urban DofE: does such a thing exist?

[paulinepolos]

Hello
I am looking for an alternative Gold Duke of Edinburgh`s Award Expedition for my just turned 18yo daughter. She has mental health difficulties and a history of depression, to which I have found the standard Expeditions unsuitable. We live in Liverpool and I initially suggested to our Private DofE coordinator to do the Leeds and Liverpool Canal as her Expedition. And before you go on about wild country or mountains, as of 2023 the DofE says it allows Urban Expeditions (look at 20 Conditions).

It needs to have/provide the following things:

.be in an urban or semi-urban environment and not in "wilderness" or mountains
.have absolute MINIMUM team size of 4 people
.female only or request to have female only
.to ask an allocated time for me to see my daughter at night
.to ask to bring own food and not those shitty ration pack boil in the bag meals (such as bring own spaghetti and sauce)

Can anyone help or advise me on this?

You started a thread about this before. You were told then that doing DofE isn't going to replace the exams she didn't get. You were also told that what you are looking for doesn't really exist.

They can take their own food as long as they can cook it and carry it. So the shitty ration packs are chosen by many because they are light and easy to prepare. I think mine took instant noodles, among other things- pepperami, maybe. Can’t remember as it was a long time ago.

You already posted this and lots of people said it doesn’t sound like DofE was really that suitable for your daughter

This is your 3rd thread about this.

i think you’ve already had some excellent responses.

And a key factor in what’s Available are the unpaid volunteers that plan train and supervise.

If you wanted a bespoke experience, you needed to gather a team of children and volunteers that generally aren’t related to them to manage it. It’s a bit risky, as experienced leaders are better prepared for all the things that can happen.

I seem to recall a thread like this before
Surely a large part of the benefit of D of E is that it gets children out of their comfort zone?

Would your daughter not be better getting advice from her school and considering sitting some exams instead?

Why not just start with some baby steps of her trying things like a bit of volunteering?
Or you and her agree to try something new once a month? It could be a new food. A visit to a different town. A trip to a museum or art gallery. Going to a local event

Surely the main point of the expedition is to prove independence and initiative-needing to meet you fails that core criteria..

Sounds like D of E isn’t right for your daughter. Is it her wanting to do it so desperately? Or are you pushing her into it? (Sounds far more likely)

It also doesn't do a child any harm to realise that it they have exercised enough and are hungry enough they will be happy to eat a boil in the bag type meal

We did do volunteering.
She has done 18 months or 500 hours of unpaid work. She enjoyed it but it was 2 days a week for a morning. it seems to be when she is away from me at night time or longer than 1 day it triggers her mental episodes and makes her feel like she needs to drink.

Given this is about the third thread you started about this, what are you expecting this time that you didn't get on the last occasions? It sounds like the expedition isn't going to work. She can still use her experiences in other sections to talk about at interviews.

Posting the same post as I’ve posted on your other threads. DofE isn’t suitable for your DD and in no way do employers see it as a substitute for basic academic qualifications. Your energy would be far better spent on helping her to achieve at least some of those rather than getting her onto an activity which sounds completely beyond her abilities.

She is 18 by law and date of birth, but mentally about 14. I really feel finishing the gold dofe would improve her life and future

And before you go on about wild country or mountains, as of 2023 the DofE says it allows Urban Expeditions (look at 20 Conditions).

This is a very rude way to word something when you're after a favour from MNetters.

My advice would be to be a bit more polite.

Did she do silver and bronze?

The volunteering will be helpful in its own right, it wasn’t a waste of time. But an expedition where she’s close to you and able to contact you, on familiar territory, isn’t going to meet the challenge expected at Gold level.

And if one of her problems is drinking when away from you, she shouldn’t be in any way on an expedition that tests physical limits where she could potentially be a danger to the other participants 🤦‍♀️

She can do it until she’s 25. Wouldn’t it be better to wait until she’s better able to manage it?

We did try Bronze, but it was never finished. She was 14.

Why? And if so, why doesn’t she go do it? You want to adapt it into do something it isn’t

It's unlikely to do that. People use it as an 'extra string to their bow ' on top of academic qualifications, work experience, university degree, etc. It doesn't replace any of the fundamentals.

Honestly, unis and employers don't give a toss about DofE. It's too universal.

I have hired loads of young people and DofE isn’t something I’ve ever looked for, or even noticed, on a CV.

It seems to me that you are focusing on this one thing, as the key to fixing a much bigger issue.

Im sorry, but I don’t think this is going to work, or particularly to help your daughter.

So she isn’t going to be able to do gold! You are being VVunreasonable.

You say she’s immature. Do bronze now. Then silver. Then gold when she’s had the training necessary to prepare for it, which she hasn’t had.