Four mosques in Greater Manchester have become the first in Great Britain to offer young people in their communities the chance to achieve their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE).
Young participants will have the chance to discover new talents, develop lifelong skills and build their resilience and self-belief by working towards their Award, thanks to new funding aimed at supporting more community and voluntary organisations across the UK to start running the DofE.
The Madina Mosque and Neeli Mosque in Rochdale, the Khizra Mosque in Manchester, and the European Islamic Centre in Oldham, have received £10,250 per mosque to help them run the DofE for up to 300 young people in their communities over the next three years.
The grant comes from the DofE’s Access Without Limits funding, which offers financial and practical support to allow community and voluntary organisations to run the DofE, giving opportunities to young people who might not otherwise have the chance.
The DofE is a non-competitive personal challenge, open to all young people aged 14-24. Each young person chooses their own activities in three sections – Skills,
Physical and Volunteering – and completes a demanding Expedition, as well as a Residential challenge at Gold level. When completed, these lead to a highly respected Bronze, Silver or Gold DofE Award.
Dr Shahzad Amin, Trustee and Head of Education at Khizra Mosque,
said:
“Often within our community, young people come from a more sheltered family environment. We want to help set them up to go out into the world – to give them basic
life skills, confidence and independence.
“The area where we are based is one of the most deprived in England, meaning young people don’t always have the opportunity to take part in something like the DofE. We want to change that by building The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award into our youth provision at the mosque so that it is accessible and affordable for all – boys and girls. We hope that it will give our young people an extra edge, and that the confidence and skills that they gain will help them with their future education as well as employment. We believe that the leadership and life skills they will gain from doing their DofE Award will be life-changing for them.”
Sadil Nassar, a young person who spoke at a recent launch event, said:
“I completed my Bronze DofE when I was in year 11 – I was the team leader on our expedition walk which really built up my confidence and team-working skills. We had to learnfirst aid as well, and this came in handy a few years later when someone fainted in my class in college, and I had to put them in the recovery position!
“I found my own volunteering opportunity for DofE through my local primary school, and this experience helped me feel more prepared for applying for a job last summer. I’m
glad that many other young people in my community will now get the chance to do their DofE and learn the same skills that I did.”
