Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Volunteering - 14yr old DS

[shushpenfold]

Dear all

OK, so my lovely DS (14yrs) has decided to complete his DofE Bronze. I'm really pleased that he's decided to do it but now need to help a bit with the volunteering side of things. All of the 'usual' roles have been snapped up very quickly (their parents have older DC and knew the sketch!) and after searching locally, there seems to be very little which a 14 yr old can do....it's slightly easier for 15 and 16 year olds. They are supposed to do at least an hour's volunteering a week and I'm at the point of suggesting that I offer to go with him and help too so that the workplace are not in charge of him (so to speak) and hence will be able to avoid so many issues related to H&S etc. Has anyone done the same and if not, how did you manage to find something? xx

What sort of thing has he tried?
I'm not entirely sure how d of e works but I'm a cub leader and we have a girl with us just now doing her volunteering part with us.
The teacher at her school that does the d of e knows this is what she is doing so itusy be suitable.
Is there any groups like that near you or have you exhausted all those?

helping with younger ones at a sports club?
helping with beavers?
helping at a saturday oap lunch club?

I think if you went with him it would defeat part of the point of DofE.

Mainly people round here seem to do:
Charity shops
After School clubs
Cubs/brownies
Helping with any primary age club that he attends the teen section of

Some care homes may take DofE teen helpers (eg to play scrabble with residents), even if they normally need people to be older.

Hi youmakemydreams. He's worked through the school so far as they have contacts with all of the local groups....all filled by current pupils apparently (miffed face!) although DS has just admitted that he only asked about the school run groups!!! (the joys of 14 yr old males)

Right, great tip and I'm off to email them now! Many thanks xx

Helping at a Scout group is usually easy to arrange a they always need extra hands.

Many thanks for the suggestions.....OAPs homes is a brilliant idea as is all of the local ones. As you may have read above, DS has just admitted to only telling me half a story so I'm off to email now. xx

I can't remember exactly, but I've got a feeling that dd1 helped out at lunchtime clubs for Year 7s at her school.

X-posts, that might not be helpful, sorry.

Your ds should be the one emailing!

ds3 went shopping for our elderly partially sighted and not very mobile neighbour - all he had to do was go in each week to collect the list and money, do the shopping and then take it back to her where she always gave him a cup of tea and a biscuit while they had a chat about the olden days -

My DD helped at a local animal sanctuary.

Her friends did things like working in charity shops, helping with brownies and helping at a food bank.

The volunteering doesn't have to be done weekly. He could for example do 2x2 hour sessions once a month.

I agree that he should be doing the emailing btw- if he lacks confidence you could help him compose something, but the DofE is all about building independence and initiative, so be careful you aren't taking too much of a lead in it all.

ds did his in the school library. What are his interests ? Could he help with a club, make tea at a day centre or care home, help raise money for a local charity, offer to do gardening or shopping for an elderly neighbour, join a local working party for a litterpick or beach clean up

titchy and BOFoster - agreed, he should be! This is our first foray into the big wide world of taking the initiative (for him) so I'm trying to break him in gently! Many thanks for all of the suggestions. x

I get lots of queries for my brownie unit. But I already have young leaders who were brownies, then guides and turn 14. Scouts take them too. A lot of my dd's friends have gone for the charity shops near us as we have lots. A few have helped with football teams, bowling teams and rugby coaching.

Go onto the D of E website and look under volunteering. They have loads of suggestions that maybe helpful to you.

For some reason charity shops are not well thought of for DoE (DS1 has done silver and was advised charity shop not suitable)

DS is helping with Scouts, but then he is doing his DoE with the associated Explorer group. I think all the helpers in the younger sections are from within Scouting.

His second option was assisting with a karate class for littleuns, which he does anyway, but he wanted to do karate for his sport and while I think you can do the same thing for two sections at bronze, you can't later on.

What are your DS's hobbies? Surely one of them has younger participants who he could help with?

Many thanks all; we're approaching the local residential homes on Friday after school......we could both picture him volunteering with older people. xx

Ds1 was 13 when he started his bronze. It was a nightmare as he was too young to volunteer in most places.

He does a sport though and was able to use this for both the volunteer and fitness sections.

Although he did the expedition at 13, apparently he cant be signed off until he is 14.5 so still waiting to complete.

You can't register until you are 14 Nohysteriahere

OP, I agree with everyone else - virtually anywhere that runs activities for smaller children will take volunteers for their DofE - as long as they've got a bit about them. Uniformed organisations, sports teams, chess clubs, anywhere! Equally places that look after animals. I see you are going to try elderly care.

Backforgood, I copied this from the dofe website(rubbish with links)

The tables below show you minimum timescales for each level and section. We've put the length of time in months -you need to show regular activity and commitment during this time of averaging at least an hour a week. You can't achieve an Award in a short burst of enthusiasm over one weekend!Bronze

• You can do a Bronze DofE programme once youre 14 (or nearly 14, which sometimes happens when you and your friends decide to start your adventure together. However, your Leader must get permission from their Licensed Organisation first - see p27 ofThe Handbook for DofE Leaders.)

Ds1 school is a licensed organisation I believe. They start the bronze in y r9.
Ds1 is a July baby

Stupid phone.

Thats why he was 13. He did the expedition one week before his 14th birthday.
As I said earlier, he cant be signed off until he is 14.5 six months after his 14th birthday.

I know his school are fully aware of his age, we had to sign consent forms and everything!

Back You can, you just can't complete until 14 :)

OP What is he doing for his physical? Can he volunteer there? Bear in mind that if he intends to do all three levels, he can't do the same for all three levels and each level requires a bit more responsibility/effort.

For my volunteering at Bronze I assisted at a scout group.