Those of you who have followed our work in this area you will be aware of Jen Dennis (pictured left with HRH The Earl of Wessex), our Region’s Young Ambassador.
During the last three years, Jen has represented the Region at a range of National events – including a trip to the International Gold Event in Mauritius! Jen has also attended a number of DofE Managers’ Meetings with our delivery partners to update us on the work of the Young Ambassador network and to be the voice of young people influencing our thinking and planning. She recently played host to the Earl of Wessex when he visited and opened the refurbished ‘Dolphin Centre’ in West Berkshire.
Sadly her time with us has come to an end and she is off this summer to start a new stage in her own career as a new Teacher on the government’s Teach First initiative (http://www.tda.gov.uk). As a Gold Award Holder and Young Leader (in West Berkshire) I am sure we haven’t seen the last of Jen and I hope that we will be able to get her along to our Region’s events some time in the future.
To replace Jen’s presence and influence, we hope to create a network of Young Ambassadors across the Region and in the coming months we will be working with our Operating Authority delivery partners to plan a pilot scheme to start building such a network.
Watch this space for updates!
Jen Dennis is South East Region’s own Ambassador. Jen has participated in DofE since she was 14 and has achieved all three Awards. Interestingly, she has used different forms of transport for these levels: walking, cycling and then canoeing (the last, for Gold, in the wilderness of Canada!). Now 20 years old, Jen is studying Sociology at Bath University, although she is currently working as part of her degree in London. Having achieved her Awards, Jen is now a Leader in a centre in West Berkshire, an Authority within which her father is responsible for the DofE!
As a volunteer, Jen works with the South East Office and DofE Leaders and groups to develop our work with young people, ensuring that their voice is heard and that their requirements are built into our plans and programmes.
We facilitate communications between Jen and young people in our Region. Please send any comments to her at: southeast@DofE.org
From Jen:
In October 2008 I went with some of the other Young Ambassadors to Mauritius for the International Gold Event (IGE) which happens every three years. This year there were 92 delegates from 28 countries. The IGE had three themes:
- making a connection
- making a difference
- telling the story
Throughout the two weeks (I know, it was tough!) we worked on these aims. We had workshops on blogging, journalism, photography, videoing and storytelling. We also carried out some service projects across the island which included building houses and cleaning up the grounds at a drug and alcohol detox centre. In true DofE style there were also some days of adventuring: we hiked up Lion Mountain with the Mauritian army to help, abseiled down a 45m waterfall and went snorkelling over coral!
Another aspect of IGE was our work with the International Committee, who are all the important people responsible for DofE and the International Award (did you know that DofE programmes are now run in over 130 countries worldwide?). In workshops we were able to tell them what we thought DofE and the International Award should be working on over the next three years.
The best bit of the IGE though was getting a chance to meet so many people from all over the world and to talk to people and find out why they did thier DofE. There were some amazing stories and it reminded me of how important the DofE can be and how much good it can do.
Since getting back from Mauritius I have been talking to other Young Ambassadors about what we want to do over the next few years – believe me when I say it’s going to be busy! I've also met with Christian Scott, Director for the South East Region, so I have some work planned! If you have any ideas for the Region please do get in touch.
Take Care,
Jen