Tories axe Duke of Edinburgh

Wiltshire Council is to stop practical support for the Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) awards scheme for young people.

The Council currently holds a group license which allows School groups and Open Award Centres to deliver all 3 Awards; Bronze, Silver and Gold. Three staff are employed to support the programmes. Participating schools pay a subscription, but in the past the service has been effectively subsidised by WC. This will end on August 31st 2017 when the council's license will be terminated.

Individual schools will be able to get their own licenses, or a voluntary organisation would be able to take out a county-wide license if it had the organisational capacity.

There are 5 Open Award Centres working across Wiltshire with volunteer support. These are in Wootton Bassett, Marlborough, Amesbury, Chippenham and Trowbridge. If a Countywide license holder cannot be found then the Open Award Centres will close at the end of August.

The decision is in line with Wiltshire Council's tendency to cut useful youthful services.