DofE - would they do it again?

[winepls]

My DD14 Y9 has brought the dofe form home today. I think it sounds fantastic. But thought I'd ask, is it a huge commitment? Would your DC do it again if they had the choice to do over? Is it worth it?

Yes, my dc would do it again.
Each of them were already the sort to be doing lots of things anyway though, so, no, it wasn't a huge commitment as they would be doing those sorts of things whether they were doing DofE or not.

I was at a presentation recently, and they said that 280 000 sign up, new to DofE each year, and only 3% complete their Gold, so there are a LOT of folks who don't "take to it".
Of courser the commitment and expectations get more challenging as you go up the levels.

My two loved it, oldest was very outdoorsy any play, youngest wasn’t and had never spent a night under canvas!

Thanks ladies, she's definitely doing it, I'm excited for her! In fact I wanna do it! 🤣😁 x

Dd1 also y9 has just started hers. She has a practice walk next week.

For her it won’t be too time consuming as she already volunteers on a weekly basis, so that’s already covered and does an activity to a high level which covers one on the other areas, she has them signed off already.

She’s looking forward to the expeditions even though she isn’t very outdoorsy.

Yes, both went on to do silver.

They gained skills through volunteering they wouldn’t have done anyway, and some skills it gave them motivation to do, plus the teamwork of planning their route cards and navigating, camping etc with supervision but no input.

If they don't already do something like Guiding / Scouting, etc it can be a useful experience. Having to do varied things can open up new hobbies & interests.

One tip - ask early for volunteering opportunities and take them seriously. I had a pair helping at my Brownies recently and they really couldn't be arsed. They were no use at all & I was very close to asking them to just leave. By contrast, a previous DofE 14yo ended up becoming a full Leader in due course!

It's been great for DD14. She's met new friends from her year at school which has been good for her as she struggles socially. The physical bit has been tough (Parkrun) but she has battled through and I've joined her which has been an extra bonus as I really enjoyed it. The volunteering has been the best bit (she's helping a local Rainbows group) - she's loved that and will be continuing with it after the holidays even though she's finished her D of E. The expedition wasn't too bad really. She is definitely considered doing her silver next year.

My daughter just did her first practise walk/camp out last week. In her school you have to go it or CCF. She was t looking forward to it but said it was fine - walked 25 km over two days but the real fun was the camping. She’s chosen her sport (archery) and hoping she’ll get back into piano. The volunteering is tricky but hoping she can do something with animals.
I asked all the older kids who have just finished their silver and all thought it worthwhile. Not many go for gold as they may not offer it at the college they go to and it’s a bigger and bigger commitment when studying hard for a levels.

A different slant dc1 hated it.
Dc2 won’t be doing it as I know they’d also hate it. I guess like everything depends on the individual.

My daughter did the expedition for bronze in April.
There were weather warnings and a really bad storm during the rehearsal and they got lost and ended up walking twice as far.
She absolutely hated it.
We tried to make her feel better by telling her that was the worst it could be and the actual
thing would be better as the weather couldn't be as bad.
You guessed it horrific (and I mean horrific) weather again.
She won't be doing silver.

On the plus side I think the volunteering and learning new skills is great.

I'm sure my DD would, she did the full set culminating with wild camping in Scotland.

Her school had a really good organiser, a lot did bronze and significant numbers then did silver and gold. I'm sure that makes a difference, as does being with a group who work well together for the expedition.

It's a commitment, I wouldn't have said a huge one if some of the activities are things they might have been doing anyway - they have to demonstrate improvement in the skill and sport but it doesn't have to be new to them.

The most tricky part can be finding a suitable volunteering activity that runs often enough and which they can do without a parent present when they're under 16, IME.

Mine did bronze, plans to do silver. What helped was that they were already doing the activities, except for volunteering, so did not require new significant time commitments.
Weather was very cold during the practice expedition, but they were lucky for qualifing one. Did not find the walking difficult, at was only 12-14km per day, so really set on doing the silver expedition which is a bit longer.

Mine have done it all the way up to Gold, just need to get it signed off. They lived doing it

Mine loved bronze but found the time commitment too much and won't be doing silver this year. He has a long school day (home at 6 most days) and does a lot of sport plus Explorers so trying to fit in skills, volunteering and expedition planning on top proved to be a bit much. He got a lot out of bronze though and hasn't ruled out going back later.

No I don't think so. My son completed his DoE all through. It took many years and commitments and the gold hike was very very tough. He sent off the forms about 4 months ago and we are still awaiting back for completion. It is pretty expensive as well. He did enjoy it and made friends but def put him off walking up hills!