03/03/04 - Partnership Working to deliver Duke of Edinburgh Award in Allerdale and Copeland

Cumbria County Council together with Connexions and Young Cumbria recently launched the partnership initiative to deliver the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme throughout Copeland and Allerdale.  Funding received from Allerdale and Copeland Local Committee, Connexions and Young Cumbria has enabled 3 members of staff to work throughout both areas to encourage young people between the age of 14 and 25 to join the Award scheme.  

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award has run successfully for nearly 50 years in Cumbria and has been delivered by many organisations. The Award is a programme of activities for young people to do in their spare time where they simply choose an activity and do it for a set length of time.  Over 225,000 young people in the UK are now doing the Award.  

County Councillor Barbara Cannon, Chair of Allerdale Local Committee says

“We believe that services to the young people of Allerdale are very important and we want to make sure we respond to the needs and aspirations of young people and the volunteer groups who work with them.  The Duke of Edinburgh Award is all about trying something new or improving existing skills and spending time with friends.  Young people on the Award will discover how choosing, planning and achieving personal goals can change their lives.  As many employers regard the award as an extra qualification, what these young people do and achieve could, in the long term, further their careers and because so many others are taking part youngsters will make many new friends and have an enormous amount of fun.”  

County Councillor Ronnie Calvin, Chair of Copeland Local Committee says

“The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme has not been particularly successful in the Copeland area.  The Local Committee wanted to change that, and the £7k that we contributed will allow us to target those young people who would not normally be attracted to the scheme to come forward and take part in this wonderful opportunity. The Initiative aims to provide an enjoyable, challenging and rewarding programme of high quality personal development for young people all over the area.”   

It takes at least 6 months to do a bronze award, at least 12 months for a silver, and at least 18 months for a gold award.  For more information about how to join the scheme, please contact Richard Wilson, County Co-ordinator for the Duke of Edinburgh Award on 01900 325053.