Hello Yvette!

Coming Up:Everything that’s cool and dandy

about Warwick DofE Society

The facts.• This year 64 members, and more active

than ever.• Approximately 50 participants across three

years working towards their Gold.• Over half of members since 2009 have

logged onto eDofE in the past month, rising to over 90% in the last six months.

• 17 new participants this year, with an expected 4 completions by the end of the summer.

• I have been fortunate enough to be the assessor for the Gold Awards qualifying groups over the last two years, a process which is has proven to be successful for the groups and a pleasure for me.

• The groups are very well prepared by the society in terms of the requirements of the Award and obviously appropriately trained in the skills required to undertake the expedition.

• The award offers a vast range of positive experiences for young people and having worked with numerous groups over many years it is apparent that the society provides an excellent conduit for its members to succeed.

• Kevin Dibble | DofE Gold Assessor – April 2015

Exploring and Expeditions• Every year we take participants on a

Training Weekend to the Peak District in March,

• a Practice Expedition to the Yorkshire Dales (previously Snowdonia) in July,

• and a Qualifying Expedition to the Lake District in September.

• They make the logistical travails worthwhile!

• Watch: Expedition Highlights 2014

New Trips and Activities• For the past three years, our Snowdonia

Weekend trip in November has developed and expanded.

• This year, all participants had the chance to climb Snowdon (with split routes).

• The unique trip allows us to mix walkers of different abilities

New Trips and Activities• This year we are running a Yorkshire Three

Peaks trip for Post-Gold members.• We realised that aside from volunteering

at Training Sessions, we don’t have anything specifically to engage members who have already completed their Gold Award.

• It’s also a bit of a challenge, that we’re really looking forward to!

New Trips and Activities• For the first time this year, we ran an

Orienteering Day in Stratford.• We combined basic map training with a

day out and walkabout in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

• Held in October, this allowed us to introduce navigational skills in a more relaxed setting… where you surely can’t get lost!

Developing Members’ Skills• Our Training Sessions and Route-Planning

Sessions make sure all members know what they’re doing.

• We run termly drop-in sessions to check up on participants’ progress on eDofE.

• In October, we ran a weekend First Aid training weekend, reaching out to members of all abilities in an externally run course.

• The level of knowledge and passion for outdoor adventure is clear.

• The students demonstrated an understanding and pragmatic approach to their emergency training that showed high standards.

• Supporting members through DofE awards is evidently a worthwhile & challenging undertaking, and the society strives for success amongst both amongst participants and supervisors, to their immense credit.

• Will Sheaf | Wilderness Development (First Aid Day Leader)

DofE goes Digital(ish)• New designs implemented across all

publicity material, from flyers to polo shirts and members’ emails.

• We’re now on Instagram!• Professional-looking videos on our YouTube

Channel showcased on the University’s Big Screen.

• Concerted effort to collate photos, the best ones uploaded on our Facebook page.

• Our website is being re-done in the summer.

Collaborations• Warwick LINKS kindly help us with First Aid in

Training Sessions.• We took part in the ‘Where’s Warwick’ competition,

looking after Warwick The Bear for a week.• We strengthened our links with Warwick SSAGO in

developing volunteering opportunities.• Beyond campus, our members have worked in

local charity shops and 36th City of Coventry Guides & Scout groups.

• For the second year running, we are kindly sponsored by Go Outdoors.

Socials• We get our skates on at the start of term

with our annual Ice-Skating social.• Our nighthikes are always popular,

including this year’s inaugural trek to the Kenilworth Fireworks.

• This year saw, among our larger socials, a trip to Laserquest and our first visit to SU clubnight ‘POP’ with Warwick Mountains.

• We also run more casual trips to pubs and meals out.

Ta-dah!

www.warwick.ac.uk/DofEsoc

WarwickDofE