Nike ESU, Chipping Sodbury, are hosting Silver and Gold DofE expeditions on Dartmoor. These expeditions are open to all Explorers in the district so if you would like to join the expedition group please contact [email protected]

The plan is for Gold to arrive in the (late) afternoon of Sunday 22^nd for kit and route check. They will then camp at a campsite (to be confirmed) and set off walking on Monday. Silver participants are required to walk for 3 days so they have the option of arriving Sunday and going home on Wednesday evening or arriving later on Monday and going home Thursday. For availability of kit/route checking the second option is potentially preferable. This will be discussed at one of the planning meetings and confirmed ASAP.

Planning meetings:

1. Wednesday 20^th September 7pm – 9pm 1^st Frampton Cotterell Scout Hut (behind Zion Church)

2. Monday 2^nd October 8:30pm-10pm 1^st Chipping Sodbury Scout Hut, St Johns way.

3. Tuesday 17^th October 7pm-9pm Crossbow Scout Hut, Frampton Cotterell

Attendance at a minimum 2 planning sessions is required.

Participants will be responsible for all of their own food but must notify any allergy information so that all participants can be notified of anything to avoid.

No transport will be provided, lift shares can be arranged amongst participants and parents – an optional parent WhatsApp group will be established prior to the event to assist with that.

Much of the fine detail will depend upon numbers attending so when expressing an interest (to [email protected]) please provide the following information: Name or participant, DoB, Award Level (Assessed or Practice), parent email and mobile number (with WhatsApp permission), relevant Medical Information, food allergies. You will then be asked for a £40 deposit – full fee will be known as soon as bookings are confirmed.

NOTE: For those who are registered for Silver DofE and have not yet completed a Silver DofE Practice expedition there is also the opportunity to complete a practice expedition on weekend of 6-8 October (see separate posting) then this can be your Silver Qualifying.  Also note that those who have completed a Silver Practice but not completed the Silver Qualifying and are registered for the Gold award (with start date effective before these expeditions) then this can be both your Gold Practice and Silver Qualifying (this is the final year that a practice at a higher level can be double counted for qualifying at the lower level).