The Duke of Edinburgh Award is an internationally recognized award initially started and sponsored by the late Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip. The Award was first launched in The UK in 1956 to motivate young people to become involved in a balanced program of voluntary self-development activities. The award is still active and has four components including voluntary service, skill, physical recreation, and an adventurous journey. These components have different requirements under three award levels: gold, silver, and bronze. The age range for the award is 14-25, and can be worked on concurrently with Scouting, however, there is no grandfathering. The time commitment depending on the award level varies from 6 months to 12-15 months. Cost is $100-150 per Scout per award level selected. Financial aid is available to those who qualify.
Example: This is just an example, not “the” solution. A Life Scout who is 16 years old can use their Eagle Scout project to count toward their voluntary service or toward their Gold award project (in this case, they would need additional volunteer hours/project for voluntary service). If they plan to attend high adventure (Philmont, Northern Tier, Sea Base, etc.), this will count toward their Adventurous Journey. The Scout is active on the high school track team (physical recreation) and is working on earning their private pilot’s license (skill). Based on this broad outline, and after the Scout meets all the requirements and time commitment for the components and award level, they would earn the award.
Previous awardees in the Washington, DC, area were honored at a ceremony with the British Ambassador to the US!
More information about the program can be found here:
NCAC Duke of Edinburgh Award Interest Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JW7QN5V
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