DofE was always on Charlotte’s radar, but the opportunity to take part didn’t always come easily. After missing out on working towards an Award in school, she figured it was now or never. DofE Direct gave her the opportunity to jump straight into her Gold Award and carve out some time for herself in between juggling being a part-time carer for her dad, who has early onset dementia. Read her story.

Charlotte speaks at the DofE’s Gold Awards Celebration, Buckingham Palace, May 2025.

Charlotte’s school always pushed DofE as an opportunity to gain skills for the future. While she wanted to sign up for Bronze, the sessions clashed with her GCSE subjects, and after receiving her dad’s early onset dementia diagnosis during her A Levels, she knew it wasn’t the right time. Even when she got to university Charlotte had the Gold Award in the back of her mind, but with a demanding course in product design, she struggled to find the time.

Charlotte says her dad’s dementia diagnosis came out of the blue, and at only 16 it was hard to process. Once she’d moved home after finishing university he could no longer be left alone, and the caring responsibilities fell to her and her mum. With everything happening in the background, Charlotte admitted finding the time to do DofE was quite difficult, but with her 25th birthday nearing, Charlotte knew it was a now or never type scenario.

Charlotte’s Gold Award activities brought her closer to her dad, giving them plenty to bond over through their shared interests. For her Volunteering section she supported with Scouts on Saturday mornings, which brought joy to her week. When she told her dad stories from the sessions, he’d laugh along and feel part of it. For her Skills section, Charlotte chose photography, something she’d wanted to do since she was five. Her dad used to have a film camera which was also the perfect excuse to get out of the house and practice with him alongside her, creating nice memories that they wouldn’t have otherwise.

The Physical section was really important to Charlotte because it motivated her through a hard time and helped her mental health endlessly. Seeing some consistency with her fitness levels was really rewarding, and the combination of being physically active and having counselling put her in a really good place by gaining life skills in how to cope with her mental health.

The Expedition and Residential sections presented a chance for Charlotte to throw herself into solo travelling, something she used to enjoy and allowed her to regain some of the confidence she felt she’d lost. She knew the expedition was the gritty bit so despite feeling daunted, she set off to Snowdonia with a group of strangers and ticked that section off first. Meanwhile she saved her Residential for last, finishing her Award with a week of surfing in Portugal as a way to celebrate and cap it all off.

“As scary as it was to commit to DofE for 18 months, not knowing what the future would look like for our family, I did it anyway.”

Talking about DofE activities with her dad, Charlotte says, it was nice to find those common grounds again and a good distraction when all that’s at the front of your mind is that it’s not going to be like that forever. Charlotte’s dad was really pleased when she achieved her Gold Award and she says while he’s no longer in a position to converse, he can find the words when it matters which shows how much it means to him.

By choosing meaningful activities that she really enjoyed, 18-months flew by, and Charlotte’s carried that forward by continuing to make time for activities like Scouts and fitness. To someone else starting their DofE at a tough time in their life, Charlotte says, embrace the optimism and prioritise time for yourself, because she says, “there is never a right time, but by taking on the challenge that is our Gold DofE, we develop life skills and knowledge that will help us when we don’t have the luxury of choosing what challenges we face in life.”

“As much as I have enjoyed my DofE, I never thought it would have helped me as much as it has through such a hard period of my life.”