The DofE Diamond Fund

Posted at 12:20 pm on 10th July, 2019

Wellacre Students Benefit from the DofE Diamond Fund

Wellacre is delighted to announce they have received a grant from The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award’s (DofE) Diamond fund to enable the school to support more young people who wish to achieve their DofE Bronze and Silver award.

Wellacre has been participating in the DofE Awards for a number of years and this year the grant has enabled the school to provide a more inclusive opportunity for all.  As well as doubling the number of students enrolled on the Bronze DofE Award for 2019, the grant has funded a range of new equipment including tents, sleeping bags and rucksacks for the outward bound expeditions.

Through Wellacre’s DofE 2019 project, students from across Trafford have had a better opportunity to develop life changing skills such as communication, resilience and teamwork; create new friendships, and gain the confidence to reach their potential.

Wellacre’s Principal, Miss Wicks, said: 

“Wellacre is incredibly grateful to have received this grant from the DofE’s Diamond fund. It has enabled us to provide a more inclusive opportunity for students to take part in the DoE this year and moving forward.  The DofE is an integral part of Wellacre’s provision and we have used this money to give more of our young people the opportunity to develop communication and confidence skills that are transferable to life and work, by helping out in their local community, learning new skills, keeping fit and experiencing the great outdoors.”

Through its Diamond fund, the DofE will be investing a total of £3 million over the next

four years to make the project more inclusive and increase the number of young people starting their DofE. The £3 million is made up of £1.5 million raised by over 15,000 supporters in the DofE’s Diamond Anniversary year (2016), £1 million from the #iwill fund for England, a joint initiative from The National Lottery and Department of Culture, Media & Sport, and additional DofE donations to double Diamond Anniversary fundraising in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. #iwill is a UK-wide campaign which aims to get 6 out of 10 young people involved in social action by 2020.

Peter Westgarth, Chief Executive of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award says:

“We are delighted to grant Wellacre money from the #iwill DofE Diamond fund to enable even more young people in Urmston the opportunity to do their DofE. The life changing benefits of a DofE programme should be readily available to any young person who wants to help themselves to go further in life.”

The DofE is widely acknowledged as the world’s leading achievement award for young people. DofE programmes enable any young person, age 14-24, to develop key skills for life and work such as confidence, commitment and team working. Those who achieve a Bronze and Silver DofE Award will volunteer, learn a skill, get fit and undertake an expedition in wild country. Those who achieve a Gold Award also take part in a week long residential.