I have to admit I started it just to go along with mates, and a little for my CV. The teacher who ran it at our school had very strict views on what counted as wilderness, so we had lots of variety in the Cairngorms, Hebrides, Lakes and Dartmoor. He was also keen to mix groups where possible.
Best/worst part was dealing with a hypothermic group member in the middle of Galloway after 2 days of rain on silver. He ended up in a helicopter and we looked like heroes (I hope!). Didn’t half create a lot of paperwork for the school, and I know it put other kids off doing gold. Our group all did gold (including the casualty), partly off the back of dealing with a situation like that on our own.
...Definitely worth it for those guys, but we won’t be able to continue subsidising it. Does anyone know of charities that would support disadvantaged students access DofE?
What do you need in terms of funding? Kit? Travel? External trainers?
The DoE website itself has a page on funding for disadvantaged groups, and you should be able to link up with others who can lend tents, stoves etc.
There are plenty of small trusts and bodies who would help fund buying equipment, or training up your team to run it yourselves. There is a misconception that it has to be in the middle of nowhere, but certainly at Bronze it can be local enough to require no expensive travel.
there is another skill it teaches. You will actually have to go and talk to an adult, ask them to sign something off
You mean, the [i]teenager[/i] has to learn the skill of going to talk to an adult.. first of all listening to the advice of their parent who tells them to go to talk to the adult... gawd, he ain't ever getting this signed off!