Which activities count

Volunteering is simple: It is about doing something good for others without getting paid: for a special person, for your school, your community, society, the environment or for animals.

You can do your service at a non-profit organization, e.g. the Tafel or at a homeless shelter, you can do shopping for elderly people or go for a walk with their dog. You can also help younger children with homework or reading at your school or youth center. Being a class representative also counts as volunteering.

You can find out more about the UN Children’s Rights Convention and pass on your knowledge in the school environment or ensure that less plastic waste is produced at your school or in your community. You can also clean stumbling blocks in your community for one hour each week.

You can regularly collect rubbish in front of your school or take a stand against racism. Just look around and see if there is anything that bothers you in particular – and then try to do something to change that and make the world a little more beautiful and maybe also fairer.

Which activities count

The skills section is about dreaming big. Is there something that you always wanted to be able to do? Then choose it for the skills section, even if you hardly trust yourself to do this activity. The Duke’s motto can lead the way: You can do more than you think!

The skills section of the programme includes all activities that are not athletic. You could set yourself the goal of being able to recite a challenging poem by heart, play a particular song on a keyboard, sow some plants and care for them so that they reach a certain size, knit a scarf or sweater, sew a shirt, shoot and edit a film, read a book and record it as an audio book and much more.

Which activities count

In the fitness part of the Award, you can choose any type of sport, including dancing, individual and fitness sports. In summary, it can be said that everything that requires physical exertion and an increased level of energy counts.

In any case, it is important that you do the fitness activity at least one hour a week and that you improve from week to week. Possible goals could be to score a certain number of goals with the left foot, to jog a certain distance or to hold a certain yoga posture.

Which activities count

The expeditions part of the Award is about independently planning and carrying out an unaccompanied expedition with a specific aim in a group of 4-7 participants. The expedition training includes navigation, bivouacking, behavior in nature, outdoor cooking, teamwork and first aid. Before each final expedition, you have to conduct a practice expedition as a group in order to prove that you have enough experience to carry out the final expedition successfully and safely. At the end of each final expedition there is a presentation on your chosen topic. This can also be done as a song, poem, video or similar.

If possible, the expeditions take place in unspoiled nature. The use of your cell phones is restricted by arrangement.

The following 15 conditions must be met in order for an expedition to count towards your Award:

Possible modes of transport:

– by foot

– bicycle

– sailboat

– canoe or kayak

– wheelchair

– horse

Which activities count

The Residential Project is about finding your way in an unfamiliar environment and entering new relationships. For example, you could work as a teamer at a children’s holiday camp, take a cooking or language course in another country, or take part in an ecological project.

It is important that your project takes place in an organized framework. It often makes sense to combine your gold project with personal interests.

How long does the gold project last:

The Residential Project lasts 5 days and 4 nights. In exceptional cases it is possible to carry out the project on two consecutive weekends. This must be coordinated with the programme provider.

We are happy to share ideas and suggestions from other countries with you – write to us!