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?

It's a very common expression that means 'when all said and done'.

Not heard that before. Still didn’t make sense.

As the other post got deleted I am not sure you saw my comment, are you confusing the DofE with Princes Trust? As I recall this being a skills based thing for young people (possibly those who underachieved). I don't think DofE is what your daughter needs right now.
If she is unable to do a GCSE can she do functional skills instead? I would focus on making sure she has basic skills in maths and English rather than hiking her around the canals. I am not sure what you think this is going to achieve in terms of job opportunities - if a job requires basic maths skills rocking up and saying well I did DofE instead won't work.

Why not?

End of day?
She wouldn't be allowed to lead a trip.

or

When all said and done, she wouldn't be allowed to lead a trip.

End of day refers to the close of a standard business day. A Dofe trip is a business too. With rules. With an organisation. With responsibility.

The organisation behind dofe will not let OP in charge of a trip based of what she states here.

The question mark one thing. And if OPs trying to organise a none compliant trip…. Then she’s trying to organise a non compliant trip. Which is still not the right thing to do for her daughter or the other random kids she drags into it.

Yet you said it’s a great idea to try and set an expedition up for next year…

Are you on meth? This is a terrible idea. A safety and safeguarding nightmare, plus there's no legal right to camp wherever you like.

Maybe if you tell us what you want your daughter to get out of DofE, we can suggest an alternative. As a few posters have explained, DofE isn't a substitute for GCSEs, so you can stop stressing about finding an alternative expedition. There will be a better option out there to help your daughter.

I'm amazed that walking along a canal could even be classed as a D of E exhibition. Where is the different experiences, navigation and map skills when having a stroll along the canal?

Does your daughter actually want to do this, or is it you that wants her to do it?

You feel like completing D of E will improve her future, but what does she think? It sounds like hiking isn't for her, and thats ok...she has done amazing to do the volunteering, skill and sport, why not focus on continuing with those things, without the obsession with the Gold award? Those kind of long term commitments look good in a CV without the award

Yes.

OP could learn what is required for this kind of trip. I am sure she could learn a lot about the dofe expeditions and the ideas behind them.
You can really benefit a lot from getting to know things training to lead a project like this.

It would be great wouldn't it if OP could arrange a trip that was suitable for her daughter and other girls in accordance with and approved by the organization behind it?

OP might realise that it isn't done the way she thinks - but would understand why or why not it is not a thing a for her daughter to persue.

Having seen her threads and posts, she’s clearly not going to realise that. She’d be better off focusing on her daughter and supporting her in doing something that’s suitable for her needs and ability.

Her choice isn't it?

Obviously? It’s not like either of us are making her do anything. Suggesting she might be able to
organise her own expedition is a bit disingenuous though when you think she’s got no chance

You keep asking the same thing, and don't like the answers.

1. There are adaptive dofe but you don't want to do them.

1. None of the companies offer gold dofe in an urban environment because there is no demand.

I suppose that you could contact dofe organisation and ask for help. But you need to accept that what you want isn't what dofe gold actually is

It's called learning by doing. Or taking responsibility.

I have seen people do amazing things against all odds. You never know.

It’s called giving bad advice. I’ve seen it a lot on here, pretty common.

You could become qualified as an assessor for dof e.

But you would be far better off putting your focus and energy into getting her basic qualifications and/or a job. Can she get a job where she volunteered?

Surely if you are concerned that she won’t be able to keep off the booze at night, it would be better if she was up a mountain where there is no alcohol.

Kings trust would be a great organisation to get involved in to help her get a job

IMO it would the height of irresponsibility to put other teenagers in a position where they might be having to take care of a drunk person who has smuggled booze in when they are a long way from any help.

Im so shocked that a canal can count as an exhibition for d of e that I googled it...This is from the website

"The group’s team goal will guide their choice of an appropriate environment for their expedition. Whether the expedition environment is rural or urban, the environment can be made more challenging by choosing a location that is unfamiliar, more remote, and more challenging to navigate in"

The exhibition is supposed to be progressively challenging ...Surely the canal local to you, that your daughter has walked up and down does not count as unfamiliar or difficult to navigate??

You said you live in Liverpool. There are lots of other resources out there both activity based and mental health support.

https://www.kingstrust.org.uk/about-us/where-we-work/england/liverpool-centre

https://www.priorityouth.co.uk

https://www.ypas.org.uk/get-support-landing/

Didn’t you post about this before? Wouldn’t you be better focusing on her resitting her GCSEs?

OP I remember your other thread.

Your (or rather your daughter’s) expedition needs to be assessed by proper DofE channels and meet specific criteria. They will have to camp / stay in safe venues (ie not along a tow path or public park). Parents (or any adult who is not one of the expedition supervisors) are not permitted at all.

Focus on building your daughters confidence in engaging with a community offering for DofE, through which she will hopefully plan and prepare for the expedition with a group, gel and trust that group.
Failing that, recognise that the point of DofE isn’t completing the award, but rather building the habit of an activity, volunteering etc - if your daughter did and enjoy that then continue that and derive satisfaction from that?

I agree with a PP that the Kings Trust might be an additional / alternative way to build skills and a network. The fixation on DofE really seems to be causing you a lot of anxiety.