Gold Award celebration events

When your Licensed Organisation has approved your Award, you’ll go on the invitation list for an event at your chosen location.

The DofE Events team will email you to let you know when you can expect to get an invitation to an event. The team will also double-check where to send your Gold Award certificate and badge or brooch.

We’ll invite you to an event as soon as possible after you achieve your Gold Award.

We want to invite all Gold Award holders to an event within 12 months of achieving their Award. But please be aware that in some circumstances it may take up to 18 months from your Gold Award completion date.

We could not hold celebration events for a significant period because of the pandemic. So, all Gold Award holders already on the invitation list who achieved their Award before the end of 2020 can stay on the list until the end of 2026.

Gold Award celebration events take place on weekdays, usually within term time.

• In London, events usually take place in May
• In Scotland, events usually take place in July
• In Northern Ireland, events can take place any time of the year

You choose which location you’d like to go to your Gold Award celebration event in when you finish your Gold Award. If you want to change your location, please email [email protected].

Please make sure the details on your “Gold Award celebration event” page in eDofE are up to date so we can contact you. If you don’t have an eDofE account, please email [email protected] so we can update our records.

You can make any amendments to your personal details anytime up to four weeks before your event date. For security reasons, after that time your personal details become locked. If you need to make any changes in the four weeks leading up to your event, please email [email protected] to discuss your options.

When we have set a date for the next available celebration event in your chosen venue, we will let you know by email. The Events team will send a reminder email if they don’t hear back from you.

If there is no response to the emails, we will send you a letter. If there’s still no response, we’ll assume you do not want to attend an event and we’ll remove you from the invitation list. You’ll get a Gold Award certificate presentation folder through the post, and you cannot join the invitation list at a later date.

To reply to an invitation, log in to your eDofE account and select “Accept” or “Decline” on the “Gold Award celebration event” page. This is also where you can check and update the personal details for you and your guest.

In London and Northern Ireland, you can bring one guest to the celebration event. In Scotland, you can bring two guests.

All guests must be over the age of 16. We cannot accommodate requests for extra guests.

Please check that we have the correct details for your guest and update them on your eDofE account as required.

Guests cannot be changed within four weeks of the event.

If you’d like to attend a Gold Award event with someone from your DofE group or a family member, please let us know when you complete your Gold Award by emailing [email protected].

Gold Award holders can stay on the invitation list to attend an event for up to five years after achieving their Award. If you decline an invitation to attend an event, you’ll stay on the invitation list. You’ll be invited to the next available event in your preferred location.

If you cannot attend within five years of achieving your Award, you’ll get a certificate presentation folder in the post instead.

If you do not want to go to a Gold Award celebration event, you can ask to get your Gold Award certificate in a bespoke presentation folder.

The folder includes:

• a photograph of our founder HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and our Trustee and Patron HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh together at Windsor Castle
• a statement of congratulations from HRH The Duke of Edinburgh

This unique folder is only available to those who choose not to attend a celebration event. You cannot buy it.

You can choose to get a folder when you achieve your Gold Award, or ask to come off the invitation list and get the folder instead by emailing [email protected].

Gold Award certificates are not presented as part of Gold Award celebration events. You do not need to bring your certificate with you to your event.

Please wear your badge or brooch on the day of your celebration event. If your guest also has a DofE Award, we encourage them to wear their badge or brooch too!

In the unlikely event of it being necessary to cancel an event due to unavoidable circumstances, the DofE cannot be held liable for any costs incurred to the Award holder or their guest. Depending on your travel arrangements, you may want to consider purchasing travel insurance that covers UK travel and event cancellation. Please check your policy to make sure that it covers your travel expenses and/or hotel costs.

Each year we see you capturing some amazing content at our Gold Award celebrations. If you’re planning to make your own content on the day, email [email protected] for the opportunity to feature on DofE social channels.

Tag us in your posts!

• The DofE on Facebook
• The DofE on Instagram
• The DofE on LinkedIn
• The DofE on X

If you have a question not answered here or in the specific Gold Award venue pages, you can contact the Events team.

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 01753 727431
Monday – Friday, 10am – 4pm. Please do not call outside of these hours.