The Duke of Edinburgh's Hillary Award, also known as The Duke of Edinburgh's Award, is a New Zealand award modelled on The Duke of Edinburgh's Award. The name of the award is a reference to the famous New Zealand mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary.

Overview

The Duke of Edinburgh's Hillary Award is a voluntary, non-competitive programme of practical, cultural and adventurous activities, designed to support the personal and social development of young people aged 14–25, regardless of gender, background or ability. It offers an individual challenge and encourages young people to undertake exciting, constructive, challenging and enjoyable activities in their free time.

The mission of The Duke of Edinburgh's Hillary Award Programme in New Zealand is to have young people, regardless of cultural, ethnic and socio-economic background, participating in an exciting, flexible and individually tailored programme, to build skills, identity and self-esteem.

Approximately 9000 young New Zealanders' undertake the award every year.

History

The initial Duke of Edinburgh Award was founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by HRH, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, alongside Lord Hunt, leader of the first successful ascent of Mount Everest and Kurt Hahn, a German educationalist.

The award was renamed from The Duke of Edinburgh's Award to Duke of Edinburgh's Hillary Award in 2009 following the death of Sir Edmund Hillary. It has also been known as The Young New Zealanders Challenge of the Duke of Edinburgh's Hillary Award.

Elements of the award

The Award follows the same system as the Duke of Edinburgh Award and requires all participants to engage in physical activities, work in a team in a challenging environment, learn new skills and volunteer in their local community.

These are completed through the 4 sections of the Award with the appropriate examples:

  1. Silver - minimum of 6 months if participant previously completed 'Bronze', otherwise 12 months for first time entrants
  2. The Silver Award requires the participant to be 15 years or older and complete 26 hours with one per week for each of the four sections. It was not until the 18th of July, 1963 that the Governor-General, Sir Bernard Fergusson, held the inaugural meeting of the National Council of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award to curate a Constitution for the Award in New Zealand.

As his fame projected his values into the spotlight, his team that ascended Everest with him and their relations with HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, formed the basis for the Duke of Edinburgh and Hillary Award. Furthermore, the gap in young boys' education between the ages of 15 and 18 when joining the National Service, after World War 2, served as further motivation to construct a programme made to further skills such as physical activity and volunteering. His development of the Himalayan Trust, construction of schools and hospitals in Kathmandu guided the incorporation of the service section in the Award. Similarly, his continued expeditions not only within the Himalayan region but to Antarctica with his team furthered the importance of and popularised explorations and expeditions in varying regions of the world. Consequently, the incorporation of physical activity into a weekly basis for the Award resulted in physiological benefits such as increased fitness and stamina levels and psychological benefits including an increase in discipline, self-determination and relationship-building.

Conversely, the Skills section allows for participants to delve deeper into developing a skill of their choice by maintaining a practice pattern (at least once a week).

The Adventurous Journey Expedition facilitates an environment for relationships to be created between participants and their peers as well as the facilitators which increases interpersonal skills. Similarly, the Expedition also builds self-motivation and confidence within the participants and allows for personal growth within the trip. The physical activity in the trip also contributes to building participants' stamina and interest in outdoor activities. Contrastingly, the Exploration Adventurous Journey forges a learning environment where participants also develop independent learning and research skills that assist in the senior educational stages. Both forms of the Adventurous Journey caused participants to gain a greater appreciation for the environment after delving themselves in it for a certain period of time which linked to active participation in preventative climate groups.

The Voluntary Service component of the Hillary Award fosters personal development and increases the social awareness of participants as they involve themselves within their community as well as explore new social environments. The exposure the young people receive also contributes to youth development as they find their own interests in the process and construe their own beliefs whilst also maintaining an open-mind. Social awareness also aids in various career choices and allows for the participants to have a well-rounded approach to social justice issues, problems associated with their work and generally in the social climate. These unique experiences structured through volunteering also result in improvements within participants' mental wellbeing as an increase in self-worth, self-esteem and a sense of accomplishment. Similarly, leadership, communication and time-management skills are formed as their involvement in community service allows them to observe how to perform certain activities and transform them into applicable skills. The increase in these adaptive skills such as communication and volunteering experience results in an increase in employability and career opportunities for those that have completed the Award. The increased employer appeal and experience gained by the Award participants also links to participants being more well-informed concerning finding a stable and enjoyable career for themselves as well as being more experienced when it comes to applications. There are also significant environmental benefits as a result of various environmental conservation groups supporting the Award in New Zealand and providing the opportunities as well as resources for the Adventurous Journey component. Contrastingly, in New Zealand and as a part of the International Award, an increase in the development of healthy behaviours surrounding the rehabilitation of young offenders. As a result of the increase in confidence, various transferable skills and the opportunity to help their community, many young offenders saw a positive shift in regards to their behaviour and interactions with others whilst also opening up job opportunities for those after they finish their prison sentence.

  1. Gold partners include; the Foundation North, Friedlander Foundation, Pelorus Trust and the Tai Shan Foundation.
  2. Silver partners that assist the Hillary Award include; Macpac', Google (specifically the sector for non-for-profits), Gravity Lab and New Zealand Community Trust.
  3. Bronze and other partners of the Award are; Grassroots Trust, TOI Foundation, Rātā Foundation, Community Organisation Grants Scheme, Four Winds, Hugh Hunter Berg Charitable Trust.

See also

  • The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (DofE)

References

  • Official site