Famous faces share their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award memories in celebration of the charity’s 70th anniversary

Anyone with a connection to The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) is being invited to celebrate the charity’s 70th anniversary by joining the likes of Matt Tebbutt and Dame Kelly Holmes in sharing their fondest DofE memories.

HRH Prince Philip meeting DofE participants. Credit: Oldham Chronicle.

Through these shared experiences, the DofE charity is celebrating the millions of remarkable young people who have transformed their lives and the communities around them through DofE, and the hundreds of thousands of volunteers who make DofE experiences possible — whilst inspiring other young people to start a DofE journey of their own.

Since its conception in 1956, the DofE reaches 15.5 million young people globally, with over 8.5 million young people having started a DofE Award in the UK – enough people to fill Wembley Stadium 94 times.

Chef, television presenter and Gold DofE Award holder Matt Tebbutt, who has already shared his memory on the charity’s new website, fondly reminisces about his unusual expedition meal and how he should have known that he was destined for a career “centred around food”.

Matt said: “During my Bronze expedition, while my friends were sensibly rationing freeze-dried meals and cooking their instant noodles, I decided to take a rather unusual item for my evening meal: a fillet steak. I had diligently packaged it, seasoned it and pan-fried it in butter – delicious. In my mind, a fillet steak seemed like the perfect outdoor meal — portable, practical and protein-rich! Looking back, it’s clear that, even then, my foodie tendencies, no doubt encouraged by teenage greediness, were leading me towards a career centred around food.”

As a lifelong advocate for young people, HRH Prince Philip established The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in 1956 for the “balanced development” of young people’s character. The DofE charity has been equipping and empowering millions of young people from all communities to build the skills, confidence, and resilience they need to make the most out of life, ever since.

Manchester Maccabi, a Jewish community hub and sports centre in Prestwich, Manchester, has been delivering the DofE for just over a year, with its first cohort of 20 young people achieving their Bronze Award in October. The centre, which has sports facilities and social spaces that the whole community can utilise, provides kosher food and schedules sessions around Shabbat and festival times, ensuring that all young people can participate regardless of their background.

Adam Jackson, Chief Executive of Manchester Maccabi, said: “Activities for the Volunteering and Skills sections have been adjusted to include opportunities that reflect our community’s culture — such as helping with a local food bank, organising events for Jewish holidays and volunteering at the local synagogue.

“These adaptations have made a real difference. More Jewish young people now feel confident joining the DofE, and it has encouraged stronger connections between young people and the wider community. Participants have developed leadership, teamwork, and independence, while the community benefits from their volunteering efforts. Overall, it’s strengthened the sense of pride, belonging, and contribution among young people in our Jewish community.”

Boaz Rubin, 14, who recently achieved his Bronze Award at Manchester Maccabi, said: “The whole experience felt comfortable and accessible as it was planned around Sunday and Monday rather than Shabbat and all the food was kosher. Keeping kosher did not limit us at all and actually encouraged us to think more creatively, with meals like pasta, beans and vegetarian hot dogs turning out really well; along with decent desserts. Working together as a team to plan, cook and support each other showed how much you can achieve together, and seeing so many of us overcome mental and physical challenges in the outdoors has made me want to go on and do my Silver Award.”

For his Skills section, Boaz developed his guitar playing, for Volunteering he volunteered with a local luthier, learning how to repair guitars while supporting the local community. For his Physical section, Boaz trained weekly in fitness and weight training and did regular cycling.

KidCare4U, a community group based in Newport, South Wales, aim to help more young people from ethnic minority backgrounds and low-income families to take part in DofE.

Amira Sheikh from Newport, has attended KidCare4U since the age of eight. Now 17, and having completed her Bronze Award, Amira is now continuing to give back as a volunteer. Amira said: “Doing DofE through KidCare4U offered me a sense of belonging, and most importantly, friendship. I’ve made my best friends here. I feel like I’m giving back to the community through volunteering – now I can help kids who need someone to talk to. And as a Muslim girl, camping is sort of unheard of in our community, so it’s really nice to be able to encourage others to do that.”

Over the last 70 years:

• Over 8,539,000 young people have started a DofE Award in the UK — that’s enough people to fill Wembley Stadium 94 times.
• Globally, the DofE reaches 15.5 young people across 139 countries and territories, with 1.2million 14–24-year-olds actively participating in the last year alone.
• Over 2,537,000 young people in the UK have achieved a Bronze Award, over 886,000 Silver, and over 353,000 Gold DofE Award since 19562.
• After the first year, 7,000 boys had started a DofE programme and 1,000 Awards had been achieved. Jump to the year 2024-25 and more than 342,000 young people started their DofE with 166,592 Award levels being achieved.
• Driving and maintenance of cars, bicycles and scooters, dress making and rifle shooting, were the most popular activities in the 1960s with cooking, playing a musical instrument and learning a language being the most popular today — skills that continue to set young people up for life and work.

In celebration of its 70th year, the DofE charity has today released never-before-seen items from its archive, including HRH Prince Philip’s annotated draft speech for his segment in ‘The Way Ahead’ — the first DofE promotional film, released in 1958. Prince Philip highlights how the pilot “scheme” for boys is designed “to show how you can spend your leisure time, how you can help your fellow citizens and above all, what you can achieve if you set your mind to it3.

John Green, 85, from London, who was one of the first boys to achieve his DofE, took part in the late Prince Philip’s pilot DofE programme in the 1950s and was among the first boys to receive their Gold Award from HRH Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace on 4th June 1958; a handwritten letter to Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick ‘Boy’ Browning, Treasurer to HRH Prince Philip, from Sir John Hunt – the Award’s first Director – about receiving the first Gold Award holders at Buckingham Palace, has also been released by the DofE charity today.

John, who grew up in Silvertown and now lives near Southbank, was introduced to the DofE at Fairbairn House Boys Club, where he went to box. Going straight to his Silver DofE where he did photography, first aid, and athletics for his sectional activities, and explored the South Downs for his expedition, he saw it as an opportunity to escape post war East London and to build a better life for himself.

Sharing his story to mark the charity’s 70th year, John said: “It was important to do The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award because it gave young people like myself the opportunity to do something that we weren’t encouraged to do at home or school. No one can imagine what life was like then. Thanks to The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, I turned out okay and didn’t do too badly; it was all down to that.”

John went on to achieve his Gold Award, continuing with the same sectional activities but doing his expedition on the Brecon Beacons and had the pleasure of meeting HRH Prince Philip alongside Sir John Hunt during a practice expedition.

Commenting on his expedition experiences, John said: “For many months we used to go to the Brecon Beacons. Twice Prince Philip and Sir John Hunt came out which was amazing. They were both such great guys. They were lovely. They asked us if we were finding it difficult and they were just so very encouraging. At the time I couldn’t believe we were standing there, you know, talking to Prince Philip.”

Paralympic icon and DofE Chair of Trustees, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE – whose daughter, Carys, achieved her Gold Award last year, said: “In seven decades of the DofE charity, we’ve learnt that there’s no limit to what young people can achieve when they are given the right opportunities; even when external circumstances are tough. Our Founder HRH Prince Philip once said, ‘There is more in you than you might think’ and the DofE helps young people realise this.

“As we celebrate 70 years of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, we’re recognising DofE participants past and present, and the incredible volunteers who make their journey possible — we’d love anyone with a connection to the charity to celebrate with us by sharing their memories on DofE.org.”

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award charity is as committed now as it was 70 years ago to supporting young people’s development.

Tanni continues: “This anniversary isn’t just about reminiscing; it’s a chance to look ahead. With the disruption of the last few years hugely impacting young people’s mental health, education and job opportunities, going forward, we will continue to strengthen community connections, build essential skills that set young people up for life and work — and in partnership with our incredible supporters and fundraisers, we’ll work even harder to ensure every young person who wants to, can take part in a life-changing DofE experience.”

The DofE charity reaches over 570,000 young people each year in the UK, through a broad and dedicated community of volunteers and partner organisations, including schools, youth groups, colleges, businesses, young offender institutions, hospitals, fostering agencies and more.

Celebrate the DofE charity’s 70th anniversary by sharing a DofE story at DofE.org/your-story, taking on a fundraising challenge, or by doing the DofE — find out more at DofE.org.