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To: East Sussex County Council

Keep the Duke of Edinburgh's Award in East Sussex

25/01/16 - We Won!

Thank you for signing the petition Keep the Duke of Edinburgh's Award in East Sussex; it has been an extraordinary past 2 weeks, but 6,400 signatures, hundreds of emails, calls and messages and more than 10 radio, TV and news articles later and we have managed to stop the funding cuts to the Duke of Edinburgh's Award in East Sussex!

Thank you so much to all of you that signed it, and for the support of friends and family in making this possible. I was the figure head for the campaign, but many people helped out behind the scenes in getting signatures and helping to manage the press, and 38 Degrees also kept in helpful, regular contact throughout.

Whilst we have won this battle, I know that DofE is a soft target for cuts as a non essential service, and we must remain vigilant for the actions of the council in the future, however for now, this is a great success!

The signatories of this petition request that East Sussex County Council's Cabinet do not end the Council's provision of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme in East Sussex schools.

Why is this important?

On the 24th January, the ESCC Cabinet will be making the decision over whether to stop providing the DofE Award's Scheme in East Sussex. DofE provides an enjoyable and fun way for students from all backgrounds to do something new and get out into the countryside, in an era where there are many other distractions for young people. It is also a great way to get to know and make new friends, building social skills as well as practical ones through the multitude of different objectives participants must achieve in order to get their award.

In the words of Cllr Nick Bennet, lead member of the council for Education and Inclusion, "I’ve always believed that the best way for young people to advance in life is not just through academic excellence but through developing broad life skills.

Completing the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award enables participants to develop new talents, meet new people and give something back to the community."

The cost to run the scheme by the council is minimal, but the reward is monumental.

It is for these reasons that the undersigned request that funding for the DofE Award Scheme is ensured for young people to come, not cut.

East Sussex

Maps © Stamen; Data © OSM and contributors, ODbL

Updates

2018-03-22 05:47:03 +0000

Petition is successful with 6,487 signatures

2017-01-25 12:07:21 +0000

Petition is successful with 6,411 signatures

2017-01-24 09:05:25 +0000

Today is decision day! I am now on my to County Hall in Lewes to hand in the petition to the Leader of East Sussex County Council and the Lead Member for Children's Services. Thank you so much for your support everyone; I am hoping for a positive result.

2017-01-19 23:10:37 +0000

5,000 signatures reached

2017-01-18 22:10:37 +0000

We are nearly at 5,000 signatures! Thanks to everyone who has signed, I have appeared on BBC South East Today to raise the importance of DofE to young people (Found here: https://goo.gl/GFVGr6), and I have appeared on BBC Sussex. On Friday the Sussex Express is printing a story about our campaign, so watch out for that too! Thank you so much to everyone who has signed already, continue to spread the word!

2017-01-14 11:50:34 +0000

1,000 signatures reached

2017-01-14 09:17:11 +0000

500 signatures in just over a day! Thank you everyone for getting this petition the attention it deserves from the local media!
http://www.uckfieldfm.co.uk/2017/local-news/petition-to-save-duke-of-edinburgh-scheme-in-east-sussex/

2017-01-14 08:30:37 +0000

500 signatures reached

2017-01-13 08:41:40 +0000

As we reach almost 200 signatures in less than 12 hours, we have received coverage from Uckfield News! http://uckfieldnews.com/petition-launched-to-save-duke-of-edinburgh-scheme/

2017-01-12 23:57:12 +0000

Over 100 signatures in just a few hours, with plenty more coming in; thank you so much for your support everyone!

2017-01-12 23:51:33 +0000

100 signatures reached

2017-01-12 22:38:14 +0000

50 signatures reached

2017-01-12 22:10:45 +0000

25 signatures reached

2017-01-12 21:31:38 +0000

10 signatures reached