## **IOWDECA Chair’s Report July 14 2025 (Senad Adams)**
Another busy year for everyone in DECA and DofE across the Island – the AGM date has arrived, and I seem to be repeating Natalie’s words from last year!
Thank you to everyone for supporting and attending DECA meetings – especially to Carol; her patience, encouragement and suggestions have helped me navigate the Chair’s role through 2024-25. Carol has also set up meetings, recorded & shared the minutes of meetings, organised training dates, identified & followed up funding bids and raised the profile of DofE and our participants to gain support from Island Businesses.
In the last 12 months, the Isle of Wight Duke of Edinburgh Award Charitable Association (IOW DECA) has achieved many of the goals that it was set up for.
DECA has continued to support the delivery of outdoor-based First Aid courses. Archie has delivered these courses in a fun, enjoyable, yet serious manner; we have helped partfund these courses where possible. At Brading Open Award, the 2024 Gold participants used their knowledge and training to boost their confidence and skills whilst canoeing on Loch Ness. The 2025 Brading Gold group will complete their training next week and head to the Lake District in August.
DECA has also been able to support adult learning further by offering the Mountain Training Lowland Leader Award and Camping Leader to build the capacity of those who deliver the Award and ensure that Leaders provide the safe, but challenging environment required to allow participants to thrive outside of their comfort zone. Natalie has been key to organising the delivery of this training, enabling us to improve our skills, based on the Island and financially more achievable. Congratulations also go to Natalie on achieving her Mountain Leader Award – inspiring me to book onto ML training for September.
Finance and volunteering are key factors in making DofE accessible to all of our young people. The time, energy and enthusiasm of everyone involved in DofE is hugely appreciated and enables many fantastic experiences and lifelong friendships; several of our participants have reported that having DofE on their CV, uni & job applications has given them ‘the edge’ in securing career opportunities. Many of these young people are now inspiring and mentoring our next generation of DofE participants.
Brading Youth & Community Partnership (BCP) have continued to provide outstanding support to the Brading Open Award, providing a free home for our sessions and for storing equipment. The BCP offered the Gold group space and support to run table top sales, cake sales and other fundraising opportunities. As well as making expeditions more accessible, it has helped confidence, communication and organisational skills for the young people; skills that make them stand out in the world of work. Thank you BCP; we appreciate this support.
Thank you to everyone in DECA for your support this year; roll on 2026; 70 years since HRH Prince Philip, founded the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award!
## **The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) was founded in 1956 by the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip. The Award was inspired by the County Badge Scheme — a project created by Kurt Hahn, a German-born Jew who established two of the schools attended by a young Prince Philip.**
The Concept: Kurt Hahn & Prince Philip
The concept of the modern-day Duke of Edinburgh’s Award all started with Kurt Hahn, a German-born, Jewish educationalist who founded several elite schools over his lifetime, and who was forced to flee to the UK in 1933 after speaking out against Hitler’s treatment of communists.
During Hahn’s time in Germany, he had founded (and been headmaster of) _Schule Schloss Salem_ — one of the most elite schools in Europe to this day — which was attended by a young Prince Philip in 1933. Then, after being exiled to the UK by the Nazis, Hahn founded _Gordonstoun_ , a school in Scotland based on the same principles and philosophy as _Salem_ . Prince Philip followed, moving to _Gordonstoun_ after only two terms at _Salem_ .
During his time focusing on _Gordonstoun_ , Hahn created the ‘County Badge Scheme’ (also known as Moray Scheme): a new organisation aimed at helping British youth improve their fitness, enterprise, tenacity, and compassion. Participants would engage in challenges involving map and compass navigation, athletics, rescue training, and mountain expedition, in a bid to “defeat their defeatism”. Hahn also required students to take part in service projects, such as mountain rescue.
Over the coarse of its earlier years, the County Badge Scheme managed to find some local success, fuelling Hahn’s ambitions to take the scheme nationwide. This ambition, however, was put on hold with the beginnings of World War II, and was not revisited until the early 1950s when Hahn approached Prince Philip, his former student, with the suggestion of reviving the County Badge Scheme.
Prince Philip is quoted as saying in regards to Hahn’s intention to revise the scheme, “I was very interested in the idea … I could see that some such ‘achievement-based’ programme … might be a valuable tool for all organisations involved in the development of young people including schools.”
Prince Philip continued, “I offered to chair a committee … [which decided] to respond to Hahn’s four major concerns about the development of young people. He was concerned about the decline of compassion, the decline of skills, the decline of physical fitness and the decline of initiative.”
Thus, off the back of the committee put together by Prince Philip, the scheme was broadened to include four separate sections, known at the time as “Rescue and Public Service”, “Pursuits and Projects”, “Physical Fitness”, and “Expedition”, and began to regain popularity.
## **Kurt Hahn’s Six Declines of Modern Youth**
Over Hahn’s lifetime he observed ‘declines’ in the proficiency of the young generation in a range of abilities, which are collectively known as the Six Declines of Modern Youth. These six declines — and more importantly the ‘antidotes’ Hahn proposed to combat them — contributed significantly to the aims and structure of the County Badge Scheme, and in turn the DofE Award as it exists today.
These declines are _even more relevant today_ than they were in the mid 20th Century. The six declines laid out by Hahn are:
1. Decline of Fitness due to modern methods of locomotion [i.e. non-human powered vehicles]
2. Decline of Initiative and Enterprise due to the widespread disease of ‘spectatoritis’ ["excessive indulgence in forms of amusement in which one is a passive spectator rather than an active participant"]
3. Decline of Memory and Imagination due to the confused restlessness of modern life
4. Decline of Skill and Care due to the weakened tradition of craftsmanship
5. Decline of Self-discipline due to the ever-present availability of stimulants and tranquilisers
6. Decline of Compassion due to the unseemly haste with which modern life is conducted
Hahn also described four ‘antidotes’ that a person could use to combat the effects of these declines:
1. Fitness Training (e.g. to compete with oneself in physical fitness; in so doing, train the discipline and determination of the mind through the body)
2. Expeditions (via sea or land, to engage in long, challenging endurance tasks)
3. Projects (involving crafts and manual skills)
4. Rescue Service (e.g. surf lifesaving, fire fighting, first aid)
The Founding of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
**In 1956** , Hahn now divided his time between the UK, Germany, and Greece, as he continued to launch numerous schools with his unique philosophy. Thus, Prince Philip decided to found the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, inspired by Hahn’s County Badge Scheme.
While launching the Award, Hahn’s template was slightly adapted by John Hunt, a decorated British Army officer who served in WWII and is known for his role as leader of the successful 1953 British Expedition to Mount Everest. John Hunt later became the first Director of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award — a position he held for ten years.
At its foundation in 1956, the Award was designed to attract boys who had not been interested in joining one of the major British youth movements, such as Scouts, as well as filling the three-year gap some boys experienced in between leaving school at 15 and joining the military at 18. In its first year, 7000 boys enrolled in the Award, and in 1958 the Award was further extended to allow girls.
**Fast forward to 2025.** It hasn’t been the easiest few years for young people. From the ongoing aftermath of the pandemic to the anxieties of the cost-of-living crisis, the future doesn’t always feel certain.
But, in nearly seven decades of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE), we’ve learnt one thing: never doubt what young people can do. Time and time again, we’ve seen that when young people are given the chance to prove to themselves what they’re capable of, there’s no limit to what they can achieve.
We’re here to celebrate and champion every young person. To provide a safe environment of support and challenge that grows as they do.
Whatever their ability, interest or background, DofE offers young people the chance to strive for achievement, overcome obstacles, and set their minds to a personal challenge. Because when you prove to yourself that you’re ready for anything, nothing can hold you back. Our Founder HRH Prince Philip once said: “There is more in you than you might think.” And, here at the DofE, we help you realise that.
**Welcome to the DofE. Welcome to Youth Without Limits. www.dofe.org**
## **Isle of Wight Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Charitable Association**
## **– Income and Expenditure Account Year ended 31[st] March 2025**
Opening Balance on 1[st] April 2024 £4240.64 Plus income £4067.96 Minus expenditure £4260.95 **Closing Balance on 31[st] March 2025 £4047.65** (Deficit for the year - £192.99)
I confirm that in my opinion these accounts are an accurate representation of the year’s transactions.
Signed: Wendy Bluestone
Independent Verifier
Date: June 2025
Chairperson: _Senad Adams_
Date: June 2025
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**Isle of Wight Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Charitable Association – Income and Expenditure Account Year ended 31st March 2025**
## **Individual centre accounts**
## **IOWDECA**
|Opening Balance on 1stApril 2024
Plus income
Minus expenditure
**Closing balance on 31st March 2025**
|£658.60
£1280.00
£290.62
**£1647.98**|
|---|---|
(Surplus for the year + £989.38)
## **Newport Open Award Centre**
|Opening Balance on 1stApril 2024
|£786.41|
|---|---|
|Plus income|£00.00|
|Minus expenditure|£00.00|
|**Closing balance on 31st March 2025**|**£786.41**|
(No transactions)
## **Ryde Open Award Centre**
|Opening Balance on 1stApril 2024
Plus income
Minus expenditure
**Closing balance on 31st March 2025**
|£28.45
£00.00
£00.00
**£28.45**|
|---|---|
(No Transactions)
2
|**South Wight Open DofE Centre (now renamed Brading OAC)**|**South Wight Open DofE Centre (now renamed Brading OAC)**|
|---|---|
|Opening Balance on 1stApril 2024|£2355.46|
|Plus income|£2787.96|
|Minus expenditure|£3961.35|
|**Closing balance on 31st March 2025**|**£1182.07**|
|(Deficit for the year
|- £1173.39)|
|**Millennium Volunteers**||
|Opening Balance on 1stApril 2024
Plus income
Minus expenditure
**Closing balance on 31st March 2025**
(No transactions)|£223.40
£00.00
£00.00
**£223.40**|
|---|---|
|||
|**Kit Hire Account**
Opening Balance on 1stApril 2024
Plus income
Minus expenditure
**Closing balance on 31st March 2025 **
(Deficit for the year
|£188.32
£00.00
£8.98
**£179.34**
- £8.98)|
|---|---|
I confirm that in my opinion these accounts are an accurate representation of the year’s transactions.
Signed _Wendy Bluestone_
Independent verifier Date June 2025
Chairperson – Date June 2025 Signed _Senad Adams_
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