The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

– making a difference to young people’s lives

Since the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) was founded in 1956, it has helped generations of young people develop the skills, resilience and self-belief they need to overcome whatever life throws at them – Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh himself described it as a ‘do-it-yourself growing up kit’.

Ruth Marvel

CEO, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

More than six decades later, our mission remains the same: to offer young people the opportunity to follow their passions, discover new talents and gain transferable skills to help them for years to come, and to make a positive contribution to their community. To date, more than 6.7 million young people in the UK have done their DofE, and we’re positive our impact will only continue to grow.

Throughout the decades, the DofE has evolved and expanded to reflect young people’s changing lives. In 1958, two years after our creation, the Award – originally only open to young men – was extended to girls. In 1988, The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award was established to bring the DofE to more young people globally. The International Award is now offered in 130 countries. When I became CEO two years ago, I was excited to join a charity that makes such a huge difference to young people’s lives. What I didn’t expect was to find myself steering us through an unprecedented pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit young people hard. We know it has affected their mental health, education and job opportunities. Research from The Prince’s Trust has shown that 25 per cent of 16–25 year olds feel ‘unable to cope with life’, increasing to almost 40% among those not in education, employment or training.

But these headlines are only part of the story. Time and again through the DofE’s history, young people have shown that, when we give them the right tools, there are no limits to what they can overcome. And the pandemic is no exception.

In 2020, a quarter of young people who completed their award faced marginalisation or barriers to participating including financial hardship or social exclusion, or required specialist support to do their DofE, such as young offenders or young people with additional needs. It is times like these when the unique benefits of non-formal education opportunities like the DofE come to the fore. It is vital that education providers ensure students have access to the cocurricular learning and activities that can be a critical part of their recovery, both educationally and socially.

The DofE gives young people skills and experiences they cannot get in a classroom – an opportunity to excel and achieve regardless of their interests, background or abilities. They can choose their own challenges, follow their passions and discover new skills. It provides a chance to escape, have fun and make friends for life.

There is clear evidence that cocurricular learning boosts academic achievement, improves wellbeing and contributes to young people succeeding in employment. We know from asking our participants that the DofE gives young people transferable skills such as teamwork, communication and time management and develops their confidence and resilience. The DofE remains a highly respected and widely recognised mark of achievement that can help a young person stand out to employers. We know employers see socalled ‘soft skills’ as equal to, or more important than, academic achievements. In the UK, more than 100 top employers, including British Gas, Google, ITV and Burberry, endorsed the skills and attributes young people develop from their DofE. Sixty-five years after our foundation, the DofE is run all over the UK, in schools, youth clubs. prisons, hospitals, sports clubs and fostering agencies. Our vision is a UK where every young person feels ready to step up to the challenges life throws at them. That’s why we’re aiming to reach one million more young people in the UK over the next five years – a fitting legacy for our patron, the Duke of Edinburgh, whose vision helped change millions of lives.

And we’re working to tailor and expand DofE programmes, to make sure we appeal to and are accessible to even more young people and we continue to evolve to reflect their changing interests and lives. This year we added esports to the Skills section – an activity that’s shown to develop crucial life skills like strategic thinking, leadership and communication.

Those first Award holders in 1956 could not have dreamt of doing esports for their DofE – or updating their progress on the go with the DofE smartphone app, as today’s participants do. But they would still recognise the heart of the DofE – a ‘do-it-yourself growing-up kit’ that can help young people get the most out of their lives, whoever they are and whatever they choose to do.

For more information about The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award go to DofE.org/run, email info@DofE.org or call 01752 727400.

Since joining The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in 2019, Ruth Marvel has developed a strategy which aims to reach out to more young people and ensured they have had the support of the DofE during lockdown. The launch of DofE With a Difference has meant hundreds of thousands of young people could continue their DofE in the face of a pandemic. The introduction of the Resilience Fund also supported thousands of young people to start their DofE despite economic hardship. Before becoming the CEO at the DofE, Ruth was Acting CEO at Girlguiding and before that she was Director of Strategy and Innovation at the disability charity Scope. Ruth spent most of her early career in advocacy, research and public policy roles and she has successfully campaigned for comprehensive disability and human rights and greater investment in social care for disabled people. She has developed one of the sector’s first theories of change, set up an innovation unit, and helped design new ways to measure the social impact of charities. Ruth is passionate about social justice and she has a particular interest in advancing opportunities for young people, social innovation and the power of design thinking to solve social problems. Ruth is a Trustee of GoodGym, and a Fellow of the Clore Social Leadership Programme. She lives in London with her partner Mary and their three children.