Kayleigh’s story: Becoming Friends for Life through DofE

by | Jul 23, 2023 | Duke of Edinburgh's Award, News, Success Bulletin, The Starfish Way

Kayleigh’s story: Becoming Friends for Life through DofE

Listen to transcript

“As many of our followers will know, the friendships you gain with the people you did your Duke of Edinburgh Award with are so special because you have experienced something that no other young person has unless you have been through this incredible journey yourself.” 


“From the very start of our DofE journey, I had never met my teammates before and we didn’t know each other as closely as we did compared to how closely we knew each other by the end of our DofE journey together. As we all started to plan and shape how our DofE experience was going to look, we started to gain more confidence and most importantly this in turn helped us to improve our social skills which led us to develop the close friendship we still share with each other to this day. 
Throughout our expeditions, we all learnt how to build a great team relationship within our group by gaining resilience when we were suddenly faced with unexpected challenges and obstacles that were thrown our way in the form of bad weather, swarms of midges and a last-minute change of routes. 
We have seen each other when we each needed an energy boost and we also learnt how to keep up the morale and motivation levels of our group as a whole to enable us all to achieve what we each had hoped to during these particular moments. 
Once we had completed both our Silver and Gold expeditions, now we could start or continue working on our Award sections; throughout this process my teammates and I cheered each other on and gave each other the motivation and encouragement to keep going and to look forward to the end result which was achieving Silver and Gold. 
During our Gold Residentials, we all had different subjects that we were going to be learning about but that only made us more excited and focused on completing this final section before finally fully completing Gold. 
Since attending the Gold Award Celebrations at Holyrood Palace on 6th July, even though we have now completed our whole DofE journey since beginning this amazing experience together back in 2017, we will remain close friends who look out for each other and meet up with each other to have a catch up every so often because even though Duke of Edinburgh eventually comes to an end the friendships that my teammates and all of our followers have gained will remain with us for life!”

It is our mission to improve the lives of young people.

We do this by offering bespoke activities and awards for young people aged 13-25, giving them the skills and confidence they need to succeed in life.

The Starfish way

A program of fun and exciting activities designed for you. Many of the activities take place in the grounds of Megginch Castle. An amazing place that only we have access to – your very own castle estate where you can be safe and learn new skills.

Explore

Distance learning hub

You can now learn for free from anywhere at any time with a wide range of over 40 themed sets of modules, with each set providing activities to cover at least 12 weeks.

It can also be counted towards your DofE Award.

Explore

the Duke of Edinburgh's Award

DofE empowers and supports you as you learn new skills, overcome obstacles, and build confidence and resilience. We are here for the challenges, the frustrations, the triumphs and the laughter to walk with you on the path. We are here because we believe in youth without limits.

Explore