Youth development Charity, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE), appoints Paralympic Gold medallist and crossbench peer, Tanni, Baroness Grey-Thompson, as a trustee on the DofE Board, where she intends to encourage even more young disabled people to take part in the Award.
Following huge success in her Paralympic career, Tanni has continued her hard work off the track as a Board member for both the London Marathon Fand the London Legacy Development Corporation. She was appointed a member of Transport for London in 2008 and, since 2010, has served as a non-party political crossbench peer.
Becoming a DofE trustee, Tanni hopes to increase the number of young disabled participants taking part in the Award, as well as educate the public on how the DofE programme prepares young people for life and work.
Commenting on her appointment, Tanni said:
“The DofE is hugely important and relevant to young people today. With employers and universities expecting applicants to have a CV demonstrating a range of skills outside of their academic grades at the age of just sixteen or seventeen, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is a means by which young people can show a wide skillset and an ability to work as part of a team. Further to that, the DofE teaches participants the value of hard work, persistence and making their own luck, which is good training for the rest of their life.
I look forward to working closely with my fellow trustees and those at the Charity to build on what is already a hugely successful programme for young people.”
Peter Westgarth, CEO at The Duke of Edinburgh's Award added:
“Tanni’s enthusiasm for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is infectious and I have no doubt she will inspire many more young people to work towards their Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards. As the Charity looks to increase its number of Award centres to meet the growing demand, we are thrilled to have Tanni join us at this pivotal time.”
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award works with young people aged 14-25 across the UK and there are currently over 300,000 young people taking part in a DofE programme; 30,000 of which are from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The DofE relies on donations and needs to raise over £100,000 every week to continue to develop and reach more young people across the UK. To find out more about the work of the DofE and how you can support it, please visit
www.DofE.org