Danny thinks outside the box for his students’ Gold DofE Residential

Danny, DofE Manager at Firwood School in Bolton, is determined to find a way for his students to do every section of their DofE Awards. His Residentials challenge students to develop skills they can use to live independently.

Firwood School supports young people with a range of additional needs and has run the DofE since 2019.

After starting to offer the Gold Award, Danny recognised that the Residential section could be more challenging for their students. Thankfully, he’s always had the mindset of coming up with “creative solutions to make the DofE possible”.

Residentials practice independent living

Danny finds accommodation in places like Liverpool city centre and pulls together an itinerary for typical daily tasks that would be good experience for students to learn about living independently.

From cooking and cleaning, to buying food and finding out local information, young people can actively participate in their community and work together.

Watch Danny talk about winning “Life Changer of the Year” and learn how he supports DofE participants:

They also gain experience communicating with the public, with Danny and his team in the background to support if they need.

Danny says: “We’re not really engaging with them other than handing them instructions.”

One of his favourite tasks is giving the young people £10 to purchase items for a picnic in the park, which they get a lot out of.

Freedom supported by Leaders

By having leaders attend the residential, they can support with the young people’s medical and social needs.

Their accommodation has adapted beds, to the leaders can support young people with mobility issues or seizures in the night. Other young people are completely tube fed, so their needs can also be accommodated by staff who know them best.

Where taking students to a city centre might be overwhelming, Danny instead books accommodation at a holiday park, meaning there’s limited traffic and at a “level they can deal with”.

He says: “Anywhere else they wouldn’t have that independence and freedom.”

“The Residential shows parents that they can live independently.”

Going beyond what young people thought possible

As well as helping the young people prepare for leaving Firwood School and move on to the next stage of their life, they also enjoy independence and community during their residential.

Dannys says this helps facilitate “commitments between parents, students and the council” around how young people can live independently and their supported living options.

Generally, he thinks DofE helps young people reach “an achievement beyond what parents think is doable”.

Driving Danny forwards is this motivation to help young people “make memories” and “get something for life” out of their experiences.

He always says: “We can adapt it if we try, we just need to dig a little deeper.”

The biggest reward for him is seeing the “delight” on young people’s faces when they push themselves beyond what they thought was possible.

Danny won “Life Changer of the Year” for This is Youth. Read Danny’s story in full.