Duke of Edinburgh Award
We are very happy to announce that we are now offering ways to volunteer to achieve your Duke of Edinburgh’s Award! There are many skills you can gain as well as ways to complete your volunteering section. If you would like to volunteer for us please contact us at dofe@tafu.info!
This is a list of the things you would do and learn while volunteering with us:
- Public speaking: you can participate or co-lead one or more of TAFU’s interviews. Learning to prepare the interviews, managing the stress of speaking in public and delivering engaging and educational content is just some of the skills you will learn.
- Scientific Research: you can write nature articles about the amazing beauty, diversity and complexity of species, ecosystems and even the whole planet. If you have a topic that you are interested in or would just like to learn more about, this is a great way to learn and share what you learnt with others! This is also a great way to improve your scientific reasoning and writing skills, it allows you to look at both sides of every argument and show what you believe is best for our planet.
- Event organising: learn how to organise an event and gain engagement! These events can be anything that supports nature, from online concerts spreading awareness to an active tree planting event and much more.
- Advertisement: lean how to effectively advertise a range of events! Advertising for a cause is often much harder than advertising a product or service. You must start by advertising to an audience that is already interested in the topic and the cause. However, as our goal is to promote personal responsibility in everyone, you also have to find ways to engage uninterested parties. These skills are crucial to many jobs and positions.
- Design: learn to design engaging and meaningful content! Designing content that is both educational/informative and visually appealing is not easy! It takes a lot of practice and many revisions. By doing this you open the door to many designing opportunities in many different field, whether it presenting data or creating an invitation to an event.
- Translation: if you speak a language that isn’t one of those we already have covered and want to get some translation experience then this is perfect for you! With a range of topics from nature articles to event posters, this is a great way to practice your translations and expand your knowledge base at the same time!
These are just some of the things you can learn and do while volunteering for us. There are many more opportunities available to you to further your skills and volunteer as part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award! If you are interested in participating please just send us an email to dofe@tafu.info to get started!
Information given by DofE:
Volunteering (active citizenship)
- Helping people
- Community action and raising awareness
- Coaching, teaching and leadership
- Working with the environment and animals
- Helping a charity or community organisation
Skills (hobbies and pastimes)
- Creative and performance arts, music
- Care of animals and natural world
- Life skills
- Learning and collecting
- Media and communication
- Science and Technology
Depending on what award you are pursuing, TAFU can help you achieve both your skills and volunteering sections for different lengths of time, with a minimum commitment of one hour a week.
- Bronze: Skills and Volunteering – 3 months each
- Silver: Volunteering – 6 months, Skills – 3/6 months
- Gold: Volunteering – 12 months, Skills – 6/12 months
By completing the DofE program you:
- Distinguish yourself in a competitive marketplace with employers, colleges and universities by achieving their Award and acquiring tangible evidence of their determination and commitment
- Broaden your school experiences through a range of challenging situations
- Gain new skills, explore unfamiliar environments and take part in new activities
- Build self-confidence to make decisions yourself
- Recognise success in activities not necessarily provided through the curriculum
- Enjoy the process of learning and develop a unique programme for personal development
- Develop positive relationships with a wide range of adults in your community
- Meet others through shared activities, broadening your network of friends both within and beyond the school
- Gain access to the LifeZone (DofE.org/lifezone) a unique careers inspiration site designed for DofE participants and Award holders, containing profiles and endorsements from top companies giving employment advice and pledging to support our young people. There are lots of tips on how participants can use their DofE to get ahead
By completing your volunteering section with us you will show that you:
- Are reliable
- Have good time management skills
- Are self-motivation
- A committed
- Can work in a team
- have compassion and caring for others
- Support your community
- Take a position of responsibility
- Have an understanding of strengths and weaknesses
- Communication with others
By completing your skills section with us you will show that you:
- Have developed social and practical skills
- Have increased confidence and self-esteem
- Have an ability to learn new things
- Work well with others
- Are committed
- Have Met new challenges
These activity may count towards your Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Skills or Volunteering Section, please check with your DofE Leader for applicability before booking [attending].