Awards and Recognition
Saltire Awards
Are you aged 12-25? Want to make a difference? Volunteer… and get recognised for it.
Saltire Awards are free, Scottish Government national recognition certificates open to all 12 to 25 year old volunteers in Scotland. You can get an award certificate at 10, 25, 50, 100, 200 and 500 hours to show how much hard work you have done!
If you want to get started then visit our search for opportunities page where you can identify the best options for you then contact the host organisation(s) that you’re interested in volunteering with.
If you’re already volunteering and want to register for Saltire Awards, you can sign up here: https://saltireawards.scot/sign-in
Youth Achievement Awards
The Youth Achievement Awards are for young people aged 14+.
To get started you first need to form an Award Group. This group approves all the challenges (called peer assessment), as well as reviews and awards challenge certificates.
There are four main rewards that you can do:
- Bronze – it’s about young people taking part
- Silver – young people helping/sharing responsibility with others
- Gold – young people show they can organise things
- Platinum – young people do training and lead on a project
There are lots of councils and voluntary organisations that offer these awards so it’s worth asking your school or youth project. There’s also more info on the Youth Scotland website.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
You might have already heard about The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. It’s for young people aged 14–25 and is a programme of activities for you to do in your spare time. It’s not competitive so you can take your time finishing it.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award has three different levels:
- Bronze (you need to be aged 14+)
- Silver (you need to be aged 15+)
- Gold (you need to be aged 16+)
You have to do them in order starting from Bronze to Silver to Gold, that’s the rules! You need to give up some of your free time (only a few hours a week for Bronze) but it’s good fun.
The main parts to the award are:
- Service – giving something back to your community (volunteering) e.g. helping at an elderly care home
- Skills – could be anything really from dress-making to cookery or film studies
- Recreation – could be a sport you already play or an activity you want to take up
- Expedition – trip where you camp overnight and fend for yourself
- Residential Project – (for Gold Awards only)
You need an adult volunteer group leader (usually a teacher or adult instructor) who can share their skills, enthusiasm and organising abilities, but most of all they will make sure that you are safe at all times.
If you are keen to get going then ask at your school or in your youth project to see if they offer it.
No luck? Well, then your next stop is to contact The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scotland Office and they can point you in the right direction. Write to The Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards, 69 Dublin Street, Edinburgh EH3 6NS. Phone 0131 556 9097 or email: info@DofE.org
For loads more info visit The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award website.
