hello there i have some exciting news

well i know i said today's blog post would be about skincare but i have changed my mind

instead i have some exciting news and this blog post will be everything you need to know about what my news is

so instead of all this confusion i better just tell you my news

I am going to do the Duke of Edinburgh award ! ! ! ! !

if you don't know already a Duke of Edinburgh award is the most special challenge award you can do.

i am not sure if every one can do it by that i mean i am not sure if people in other countries can do it i know you can do it in Scotland but i am not sure if you can do it if you live in England

you may think its not a big deal but i regard it as a huge deal

i am starting mine officially after the summer holidays but i am starting to train now because you have to do an expedition and on that expedition you have to take all your own stuff tent stove sleeping mat waterproofs etc
and
it all has to fit in 1 rucksack which will be on your back for most of the day
so i am starting to build up my strength and leg muscles now or i will never be able to go on an expedition up a mountain  

i am hoping my friends will do it with me i have spoke to them about it and my best friend is not to keen on the amount of work and by the time we get to gold level we will have loads of exams so it might be tricky
but i am still attempting it at least

i quote
"its better to try and fail than not try and regret it"

i might end up doing it alone with loads of other random people but i really ant to do it is a great achievement and employers are more likely to employ some one who has done their duke of Edinburgh even just at bronze level

and did i mention but when you have completed your gold you get it presented to you in the presence of  HRH the Duke of Edinburgh or in the presence of HRH the Earl of Wessex!!!!!

Imagine telling everyone you got presented your award in the presence of royalty !! what an achievement

for your Duke of Edinburgh award (DofE) for short their are 3 levels : bronze, silver and gold

for each you have to do 3 sections for a different amount of time for each level

BRONZE:

you have to be 14 years old or over

and there are 4 sections to complete Volunteering, physical, skills and expedition
you have to do volunteering physical and skills for 3 months each then a further 3 months doing one of them

for the expedition you have to plan train and undertake a 2 day 1 night expedition there has to be at least 6 hours during the day time and 3 of those hours have to be journeying

SILVER:

for silver you have to be 15 or over
  again you have to do 4 sections volunteering, physical, skills and an expedition

you have to do volunteering for 6 months
and
6 months at either physical or skills which ever one of physical or skills you choose 6 months at you have to do 3 months at the other
like if i chose to do 6 months doing physical i would have to do 3 months at skills

you can go straight to bronze when you are 15 but you have to do a further 6 months of voluntering or at the longer section of  physical or skills

and for the expedition you have to plan train and undertake a 3 day 2 night expedition

on the expedition there has to be at least 7 hours during the daytime where 3 and a half hours will be spent journeying.


GOLD:!

you have to be 16 or over
this time you have 5 sections volunteering, physical, skills, expedition and residential

you have to do 12 months of volunteering
and
12 months at either physical or skills you will have to do 6 months at the section you chose to be shorter
like if i chose to do 12 months of physical i would have to do 6 months of skills

you have to plan and train for a 4 day 3 night expedition
and
you have to undertake a shared activity in a residential setting away from home for 5 days 4 nights

if you directly enter to gold you have to do a further 6 months of volunteering or the longer of the physical or skills sections

for the gold expedition you have to have at least 8 hours of daytime and 4 hours of journeying




before you go on any of the expeditions you have to undertake a practice expedition

you can get more information at https://www.dofe.org/

i got all of this information from this website and it tells you absolutely everything you need to know



                                             Toodlepipxx