Yesterday was the day when my friends and I finally received our Gold Award. After two years of dedicated commitment and challenges, but most of all fun, we had managed to fulfil all the Award requirements, and yesterday we could bask in glory as HRH Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, and His Excellency President George Abela handed us our well-deserved Award certificates and the traditional GAH lapel pin. So today I just want to share a bit of information about what this Award is, and how it affected me.
The President's Award is a self-development programme available for all 14 to 25 year olds. It is part of The International Award for Young People (a.k.a. The Duke of Edinburgh Award). In Malta, our National Authority falls under the aegis of The Ministry of Education and the Patron of the award is The President of Malta.
The authority is there just to monitor and ensure that the standards of the award are being reached. The Award per se is not an organization, it is a programme which is run by the operating authorities themselves. An operating authority can be any organization working with youngsters such as a school, youth centre, or an NGO. The programme is voluntary, open for all, and aimed for the self-development of youngsters as a whole without any form of competition with others. Throughout the programme, youngsters are only challenging themselves and discovering their abilities.
The Award Programme consists of four sections: Service, Skill, Physical Recreation and Adventurous Journey. There are three award levels to achieve: Bronze, Silver and Gold. A participant has to spend some months performing a service, learning a skill and doing a regular physical activity, the length of time for which each activity needs to be undertaken depending on the award level being achieved. The participant needs also to complete an Adventurous Journey: an expedition or exploration over a number of days. It's challenging and different, but more important than that, it’s about having fun, trying something new, learning and improving skills and spending time with friends and while making new ones along the way.
From completing the Award just at the end of last year, I found that the values and benefits of the Award are a great complement to what is lacking in our educational system, whilst I could notice that most young people around me, even if unknowingly, are already doing one or more of the Award's sections, and the Award can provide them with official recognition for the good work they already do. A quick glance at each section of the Award:
- Service: All types of voluntary service are eligible, from buying groceries for your elderly neighbour to going abroad, as long as it is a weekly commitment and not just a once in a while activity. Someone who is doing a Gold award needs to give this service for at least a year, so it brings an element of commitment and making voluntary service part of your life and not just a one-off activity;
- Skill: the participant needs to develop and learn a new skill, or improve a skill. e.g. playing an instrument, public speaking, public relations, stamp collecting, drama, arts, photography, learning a new language...the list is infinite;
- Physical Recreation: participant needs to commit himself to a physical activity for at least an hour a week. Any type of physical activity or sport. Personally, it was through this requirement that I had started going for a jog, which today has led to long-distance running and triathlon becoming an intrinsic part of my life. Benefits are healthier, more confident and social youngsters;
- Adventurous Journey: participants will learn basics of camping, being independent, self-reliant, and working in a team. In my case, it thought me the value of community spirit, the beauty of nature, and the importance of nurturing a sense of civic duty. You can find my experience of our first trial expedition here;
- Those attempting the Gold Award also need to go for a residential project (5 days 4 nights) with other youngsters. This can be divided on two weekends and can be on any theme.
The Award is recognized internationally and is a very relevant inclusion to anyone's CV as it shows that the individual is self-reliant, a team-player, an achiever, and able to take the initiative.
I have great faith in this programme. In many cases it can be literally a life-changing experience. For me it was. Doing it gave me a great deal of self-confidence, instilled a love for nature and the environment, an overall positive outlook of life, a large dose of determination and perseverance, self-discipline and commitment, taught me how to be a good team player, how to manage time and balance the needs of different areas in my life, and provided the opportunity to set realistic targets and achieve them, discovering abilities on the way that I never thought I had before. It is truly the missing link in the chain of our youngsters' development and education. Because what is missing in the individualistic world of today is a sense of community and team-spirit, which will be more lacking in tomorrow's generations. The Award can be a way of nurturing that spirit back.
More details about the Award and its international affiliation can be found at the below links:
- Malta's National Authority
- The UK's founding Authority
- The International Award
P.S. The International Forum for the Award 2012 will be held in Malta. Good luck to the organizational committee.
The President's Award is a self-development programme available for all 14 to 25 year olds. It is part of The International Award for Young People (a.k.a. The Duke of Edinburgh Award). In Malta, our National Authority falls under the aegis of The Ministry of Education and the Patron of the award is The President of Malta.
The authority is there just to monitor and ensure that the standards of the award are being reached. The Award per se is not an organization, it is a programme which is run by the operating authorities themselves. An operating authority can be any organization working with youngsters such as a school, youth centre, or an NGO. The programme is voluntary, open for all, and aimed for the self-development of youngsters as a whole without any form of competition with others. Throughout the programme, youngsters are only challenging themselves and discovering their abilities.
The Award Programme consists of four sections: Service, Skill, Physical Recreation and Adventurous Journey. There are three award levels to achieve: Bronze, Silver and Gold. A participant has to spend some months performing a service, learning a skill and doing a regular physical activity, the length of time for which each activity needs to be undertaken depending on the award level being achieved. The participant needs also to complete an Adventurous Journey: an expedition or exploration over a number of days. It's challenging and different, but more important than that, it’s about having fun, trying something new, learning and improving skills and spending time with friends and while making new ones along the way.
From completing the Award just at the end of last year, I found that the values and benefits of the Award are a great complement to what is lacking in our educational system, whilst I could notice that most young people around me, even if unknowingly, are already doing one or more of the Award's sections, and the Award can provide them with official recognition for the good work they already do. A quick glance at each section of the Award:
- Service: All types of voluntary service are eligible, from buying groceries for your elderly neighbour to going abroad, as long as it is a weekly commitment and not just a once in a while activity. Someone who is doing a Gold award needs to give this service for at least a year, so it brings an element of commitment and making voluntary service part of your life and not just a one-off activity;
- Skill: the participant needs to develop and learn a new skill, or improve a skill. e.g. playing an instrument, public speaking, public relations, stamp collecting, drama, arts, photography, learning a new language...the list is infinite;
- Physical Recreation: participant needs to commit himself to a physical activity for at least an hour a week. Any type of physical activity or sport. Personally, it was through this requirement that I had started going for a jog, which today has led to long-distance running and triathlon becoming an intrinsic part of my life. Benefits are healthier, more confident and social youngsters;
- Adventurous Journey: participants will learn basics of camping, being independent, self-reliant, and working in a team. In my case, it thought me the value of community spirit, the beauty of nature, and the importance of nurturing a sense of civic duty. You can find my experience of our first trial expedition here;
- Those attempting the Gold Award also need to go for a residential project (5 days 4 nights) with other youngsters. This can be divided on two weekends and can be on any theme.
The Award is recognized internationally and is a very relevant inclusion to anyone's CV as it shows that the individual is self-reliant, a team-player, an achiever, and able to take the initiative.
I have great faith in this programme. In many cases it can be literally a life-changing experience. For me it was. Doing it gave me a great deal of self-confidence, instilled a love for nature and the environment, an overall positive outlook of life, a large dose of determination and perseverance, self-discipline and commitment, taught me how to be a good team player, how to manage time and balance the needs of different areas in my life, and provided the opportunity to set realistic targets and achieve them, discovering abilities on the way that I never thought I had before. It is truly the missing link in the chain of our youngsters' development and education. Because what is missing in the individualistic world of today is a sense of community and team-spirit, which will be more lacking in tomorrow's generations. The Award can be a way of nurturing that spirit back.
More details about the Award and its international affiliation can be found at the below links:
- Malta's National Authority
- The UK's founding Authority
- The International Award
P.S. The International Forum for the Award 2012 will be held in Malta. Good luck to the organizational committee.
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