Busy time for Duke of Edinburgh Award team

Young people from the Open Award Centre journeying from Wasdale to Thirlmere

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Summer has been a busy time for Rochdale Youth Service’s Duke of Edinburgh’s Award team. Young people have been out over a number of weeks completing Gold DofE expeditions.

The qualifying expedition is the culmination of an extensive training programme which allows young people to complete a four day expedition in wild country terrain being totally self-sufficient.

Young people from the Open Award Centre, based at Matthew Moss Youth Centre, went to the Lake District and spent four days journeying from Wasdale to Thirlmere, camping wild in the mountains in a range of weather conditions. The young people are unaccompanied and totally self-reliant during the time of their expedition and walked in excess of 50km.

Rochdale Youth Service also supported students from Rochdale Sixth Form College who completed their expedition in the Yorkshire Dales, again including wild camps and distances of around 14/15km a day they also topped the three peaks of Yorkshire to complete their expedition.

Diane Higgins, DofE Manager for the borough, explained: “The gold expedition section really pushes young people to their limits, they must rely solely on themselves and each other for the four days and it can get really tough. The young people really find out what they are capable of, showing that they are able to adapt to difficult situations, work as a team and make decisions.”

Rochdale Youth Service is the licensed organisation for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award across Rochdale. Most schools offer young people the opportunity to participate, but they can also get involved at youth centres and community centres.

They also have an Open Award Centre which runs every Wednesday evening at Matthew Moss Youth Centre in Rochdale.

If you would like to know more about the award or want to get involved please contact Diane.Higgins@rochdale.gov.uk