Gillingham (Dorset) DofE Open Award Centre has been operated entirely by volunteers since Sept 2014 and has to be self-funding, as per our Young Friends of Gillingham DofE page.

Pics and posts on our Facebook page

137 young people are currently working on their Award at all levels, 105 have achieved an Award in the last year.

Full Awards, since 2003, are recorded on our Awards page.

The Award can now be started at the beginning of Year 9 (Bronze); the beginning of Year 10 (Silver), but its still your 16th birthday for Gold. Direct entry to Silver or Gold is possible. Expeditions for all levels are planned to be finished by the end of July in any year, but people can enrol any time and start on other sections.

Attendance:  Training and Expedition dates are now booked with leaders for 2018-19, therefore we do not change them once published. Please check them against your own family and activity calendars before signing up.

There is a regular Tues evening attendance expected from 4.15-5.45pm as below for each level This time is spent planning and completing prep for the assessment. It is mandatory

  • Golds, Oct-Dec, back in July ’19
  • Silvers Jan to Easter
  • Bronzes Mar to June/July .

Enrolment: 

The 2018-19 DofE Information and Recruitment event will be at Gillingham School on Tuesday 10th July 2018 at 6:30pm

Enrolment for all levels is in September 2018. Please see the dates and costs download below. If you did a previous level it will need to have been verified as finished unless there are extenuating circumstances! Enrolment fee as per enrolment form and cheques made out to Gillingham DofE OAC

Other Dorset DofE Centres and schools delivering DofE under DCC are listed on DofE Dorset

Find out more about the DofE Award itself on The Award page.

The website is mobile friendly and updated frequently.

What’s Happening at Gillingham DofE OAC?

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in Gillingham, Dorset is delivered under the DofE licence of Dorset County Council by Gillingham Open Award Centre (OAC). At this time we hire Tuesday evening space at Gillingham Youth Centre (BONES), Cemetery Rd, Gillingham, Dorset. SP8 4AZ