William’s Inspiring Journey: From DofE Volunteering to Aspiring Scout Leader
“William is a member of 1st Garforth Scouts and he volunteered at Beaver, Scouts Garforth every Thursday from October 2023 – March 2024. William started by helping the two leaders to run the activities for the Beavers until he grew in confidence and was able to take small groups by himself.
One of the leaders described William as a “Superb Young Leader. Dependable and friendly. The young people loved him”.
After William completed his placement at Beavers he was invited to join the Young Leaders programme at Cub Scouts Garforth. William has been volunteering with Cubs since April 2024. The Young Leaders programme contains a series of ‘Missions’ and William’s first Mission was to plan and run an activity for the whole group. William chose Artificial Intelligence.
As a family, we are very proud of William’s achievements with DofE and his commitment to Beavers/Cubs and the Young Leaders Programme. William has always enjoyed Scouts and it is nice that he is able to give something back to the Scout group and the community. I encouraged William to take part in DofE because I thought it would look good on his CV, but it has become much more than that. It has set William on a path to becoming a future Scout leader.
Thank you for running the DofE programme.”
Hannah’s Triumph: Inspiring Others Through Determination and Passion for Football
“Hannah really threw herself into the volunteering side of the DofE programme and she helped out with one of our local football teams, Garforth Villa JFC. She worked closely alongside the coaches and was actively involved in the preparation and delivery of a number of sessions over a number of weeks and even turned her hand to refereeing a few of the matches which she particularly enjoyed. She showed great patience and humour with the lively bunch and was able to pass on some of her knowledge, skills and passion for the game with a younger group of children who belong to the same club as herself, and showed herself to be a great role model.
We are really proud of Hannah as she has signed up to the DofE programme following a major spinal operation last year. This surgery involved a full year of recovery away from physical activity (particularly PE and her beloved sports of football and netball) and has left her with permanent restricted flexibility in her spine and some life-long limitations. Hannah has not, and will not, let that stand in her way from achieving her goals and has approached the programme with such a brilliant and positive attitude. I hope she goes on to inspire others in the future and that she demonstrates that goals can still be achieved with hard work and determination, despite challenges and set backs along the way.”
