Unemployed young people jump on board with the DofE.

A team of seven inspirational young people have been given the chance to take part in an adventure of a lifetime, as they are chosen to take part in the world famous Clipper Round the World Yacht Race 09-10.

The team is made up of young people from across Edinburgh and from a variety of backgrounds. They were chosen by the City of Edinburgh Council’s Access to Employment team in partnership with the Joined up for Jobs network.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These remarkable young people have been actively looking for work and will each take part in a leg of the race, working towards their Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and a special challenge to showcase Edinburgh’s rich literary connections to the destinations they visit. Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond, officially welcomed Edinburgh’s entry on Saturday (8th August).

Edinburgh Inspiring Capital will showcase the Scottish capital to a global audience of more than 200 million people when she embarks on the 35,000-mile race next month. The First Minister, Alex Salmond, said, “This is going to be an exceptional adventure for all of the crew. The Government and the City are proud to be supporting this great venture in our Homecoming year."

The participation of the Capital Crew has been made possible through the generosity of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and its Chairman of Trustees, Sir Tom Farmer, who was also at Saturday’s event.

Sir Tom said, “Here we have seven young people who have the energy, the enthusiasm and the right attitude – the get up and go to make things happen. And, you know, things happen when you do something for yourself. What you’ve done is proof that you all are people with the right attitude.

“It’s important that young people throughout Scotland all have good role models. What we need is young people to speak to other young people and put it quite simply that this is a wonderful life when you reach out and grasp every opportunity that comes your way.

“I want you to come back and say quite simply, ‘Tom, we want to be ambassadors, not just for Scotland, not just for Edinburgh, but we want to be ambassadors for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and go out and tell other young people that they can do what we have managed to do."

Barry Fisher, the DofE Director for Scotland said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for the young people involved and we are delighted that they will be completing their DofE as part of their experience.”