Volunteering is one of the mandatory components you'll need to fulfil in order to achieve the Duke of Edinburgh award, whether you're aiming for the bronze, silver or gold. We’re going to cover all you need to know about this component of the process and help you land on a volunteering option that suits your timeline. There are a bunch of roads that you can go down with your volunteering, like getting involved in activities like tutoring, environmental conservation, animal welfare, and charity work. So, let's get into some ideas that you can use as some inspiration when working towards your Duke of Edinburgh’s award!
| Category | Volunteering Ideas | Example Activities |
|---|---|---|
| Community Service | Charity shop assistant; food bank volunteer | Sorting donations; helping customers; packing parcels |
| Environmental | Park clean-up; wildlife conservation | Litter picking; habitat restoration; tree planting |
| Animal Welfare | Volunteering at an animal shelter or rescue centre | Feeding animals; cleaning enclosures; dog walking |
| Education & Youth | Mentoring younger students; helping at after-school clubs | Reading support; homework help; assisting with activities |
| Health & Wellbeing | Supporting care homes; befriending the elderly | Chatting with residents; helping with games or crafts |
| Fundraising | Organising charity events or sponsored activities | Bake sales; fun runs; crowdfunding campaigns |
| Sports | Assisting at a local sports club or team | Refereeing; equipment setup; coaching juniors |
| Faith-based | Helping at a place of worship or religious youth group | Tech support; event setup; kids’ activities |
| Arts & Culture | Volunteering at a museum; theatre; or art centre | Ushering; guiding tours; helping backstage |
| Digital Volunteering | Creating content or managing social media for a charity | Website updates; graphic design; promoting fundraising online |
Understanding the DofE Volunteering Section
While the name is pretty self-explanatory, throughout your volunteering, you’ll be helping others in your community through unpaid work. For you to get the most out of this experience, you’ll need to be aware of what award you’ll be setting your sights on. One thing that’ll stand out to you is the variance in the time required across the different tiers of awards.
Here are the categories for the different levels of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award:
Bronze 🥉
You'll volunteer for 3 months. This extends to 6 months if you pick it as your longer section.
Silver 🥈
Plan for 6 months of volunteering. Without a Bronze Award, you'll need to volunteer for 12 months.
Gold 🥇
Expect 12 months of volunteering. Skipping Silver means you'll need to volunteer for 18 months.
So, what might this look like in your schedule? You’ll need to pencil in at least an hour each week for your activities. The higher tiers of Silver and Gold afford students a little more flexibility, allowing them to knock out a bunch of hours in a single go, getting them out of the way instead of having to timetable for the activity each week. These levels will allow you to put in longer sessions of about 6 hours, so that you can get it all done on the one outing if that’s what works best for you.
Finding suitable opportunities might seem tough if you're under 16. The DofE website lists Approved Activity Providers that offer volunteering opportunities specifically for younger participants.
Fundraising counts toward volunteering when it's part of a bigger program. You can even volunteer from home or help family members if it matches what the section aims to achieve.
While you go about the process, you must realise the impact that your work is having. You’re not just working your way towards an award, you’re becoming more empathetic and socially responsible while making a real difference to others. You’ll meet new people with similar interests to you while getting out there and pushing your boundaries!
How to Get Started with DofE Volunteering
So, at this point, you’re likely patiently reading, waiting to find out how you can go ahead and get started with DofE volunteering for yourself. Well, there’s a little preparation that’s in order if you’re going to find an activity that meets the DofE requirements and that you also enjoy.
When choosing a DofE volunteering activity, it's important to select something meaningful that aligns with your interests and makes a genuine impact in your community.
If you weren’t already aware, each school in the UK has their very own DofE leader, so you might want to acquaint yourself.
These experienced guides will help you understand what your award level needs and suggest activities that match your abilities and interests.
They’ll be able to guide you through each step and even get you in touch with past participants. With this conversation out of the way, you’ll be in a position to get searching for opportunities through these reliable channels:
Volunteering for d of e can take many forms—from helping out at animal shelters to assisting in local libraries or tutoring younger students. Finding an option that you’re truly excited about is great, but you’ll also have to get it approved. For this, you’ll need to have the approval of your school’s DofE leader, so let’s hope the conversation went well!
From here, you’ll need to have a designated Assessor, who, in most cases, is going to be an adult from your volunteering organisation. The activity that you land on will need to align with the volunteering section's aims and principles, and you’ll also need to include clear goals for your personal development.
Top Volunteer Ideas for DofE Award
Now we’re really getting into the meat of the article. We’ve put together a number of solid options that should make for solid candidates for your decision as to what you’re going to be doing for your volunteering. Let’s see which ideas capture your interest.
Tutoring or mentoring younger students
One of the more rewarding ways that you can choose to spend that hour a week would be teaching others.
If you keep the person you’re going to be by the time you come out the other side of the volunteering process in mind, that version of you will have developed better communication skills.
This can be in any subject you enjoy at school or even a hobby you want to hand down.
Action Tutoring is one place that you could do your search, as they welcome volunteers who are 18 or older with A-Level qualifications. They do great work supporting disadvantaged pupils through one-hour weekly sessions, which sounds rewarding, right?
Helping Animals or the Environment
If you’re an animal lover, then you’ll likely jump at the opportunity to secure meaningful volunteer work through the RSPCA's DofE pathway. No two days are the same, as the volunteering they offer is a mixed bag. You’ll cycle between 15 tasks, including picking up litter, building homes for hedgehogs, and creating PAWS Packs for pet food banks.
So, if you love animals, you’ll be in your element for the entirety of each day. Well, with the exclusion of picking up the litter, maybe! You can try your hand at the Marine Conservation Society, as they run campaigns with 3, 6, and 12-month plans made for DofE participants.
Working in a charity shop
You could also have some luck applying to volunteer at a charity shop. This is a great option, seeing as they accept students from 14 years of age and up, provided they’ve got their parents' permission, of course! This is some great retail experience, too, if you’re looking at landing yourself a nice student job after leaving school. You'll style displays, find items for eBay, and help customers, all while supporting global causes! Here are some charity shops around the UK you may be interested in working with:
- Oxfam – Fighting global poverty and inequality
- Barnardo’s – Supporting vulnerable children and young people
- Cancer Research UK – Funding cancer research and raising awareness
- British Heart Foundation – Researching heart and circulatory diseases
- Marie Curie – Providing care and support for people with terminal illnesses
- Mind – Supporting mental health and wellbeing
- Save the Children – Helping children in the UK and worldwide to thrive
- Thames Hospice – Providing hospice and palliative care in Berkshire
- The Salvation Army – Offering social services, homelessness support, and emergency aid
- Crisis UK – Helping homeless people rebuild their lives
- DEBRA UK – Supporting people with Epidermolysis Bullosa (a rare skin condition)
- Shaw Trust – Helping disabled and disadvantaged people into work and education
Supporting a Religious or Faith-based group
Another option that might just tickle your fancy would be to volunteer at a Religious community. You can venture on down to any of your local churches, mosques, or synagogues and offer your help with Sunday schools, cleanup tasks, tech equipment, and fundraising events. This is one that will really give you that feeling of fulfilment after your day is done!
Your volunteering success depends on keeping accurate records. Make sure to write down your activities right after you complete them. Get your supervisor, mentor or coach to sign off on each log entry. Finally, make sure that you regularly upload everything, including photos and certificates, to your eDofE account.
Campaigning for a cause you care about
While our suggestions will serve as inspiration and hopefully set a light bulb off in your head, don’t be afraid to do something for a cause that’s close to your heart. Campaigns strengthen your ability to raise awareness about issues that matter. For instance, you could put your hours towards helping the Marine Conservation Society, which shows you how to run ocean conservation campaigns step by step.
This is a fantastic option for anyone looking to use their time to gain experience working with publicity materials, using social media, reaching out to local papers, and writing to their MP. This one also presents plenty of remote options, so you may be able to do many of your commitments from home or your school computer lab.
Assisting as a coach in sports
You may be drawn to the idea of spending all those hours you’re going to be spending on coaching. If you practice a particular sport, then you already have plenty of connections within your club or know what community facility might need an extra pair of hands.
This is a great avenue for students looking to blend their interests with community service. It would look amazing in your UCAS application, too! Sports Leadership counts toward DofE when you focus on practical coaching instead of formal training. What’s more reassuring than the fact that many volunteers enjoy coaching so much that they keep doing it long after finishing their award?
Securing your volunteering work for the DofE award
Volunteering is the lifeblood of your DofE trip and means so much more than just completing an award. Hopefully, this article has shown you that whatever you put into your volunteering, you can expect to get back ten times over. If any of our volunteering ideas interested you, then perhaps you’re already thinking about getting one of the activities approved for yourself.
Maybe some of our ideas even got the cogs moving in your head and gave you some inspiration as to what you could do with the time you dedicate to your award. It might pass by in a flash, so make sure to keep tabs on all that you’re learning as you go, all you’ll not only get your hands on that award, but you’ll have developed plenty of life skills in the process!
What type of volunteering do you plan to do for your Duke of Edinburgh Award?
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