Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme student completes volunteering role with Kew Society
Our Environment Trustee, Dr Sarah Clarke, was delighted when, towards the end of 2024, we were approached by Charlotte Banks, a year 10 student at Surbiton High School. Charlotte wanted to know if she could volunteer with Kew Society as part of her silver level Duke of Edinburgh Award. We replied “Yes, absolutely! What would you like to do?”.
It wasn’t long before Charlotte (accompanied by her mother Robyn) was volunteering on various environmental tasks. Indeed, you may have seen her litter picking around Kew, making upcycled t-shirt bags at the Kew Eco-Fair, gardening at the North Road garden, pebble painting at a community event at Trindle Stores and delivering Kew Society Newsletters. Charlotte was surprised how many different things she could get involved with at the Kew Society and how she could make a visible difference in Kew.
Charlotte gardening at North Road
Charlotte sorting litter for recycling
“Every time we have been out in the community litter picking or gardening, members of the public have been kind and grateful, taking the time to come and talk to us about what we are doing and to thank us for caring about the local area. That part is also really rewarding. We are also able to raise awareness of The Kew Society at the same time!”, says Charlotte.
T-shirt bag making at the Kew Eco-Fair
Charlotte painting pebble bugs
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) is a personal achievement program for young people aged 14-24 to help them develop essential skills and experiences for life and work. It encourages participants to challenge themselves, learn new skills, and make a positive impact in their communities. So as well as volunteer, Charlotte told us that she chose ski race training as her fitness activity, classical guitar as her skill and will be heading off on an expedition this month (June), her favourite part of the Award Scheme.
Well done and thank you Charlotte for your hard work! We look forward to hearing that you’ve decided to go for gold!
If you know a teenager who is doing the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme and would like to volunteer with Kew Society in the coming academic year, please email chair@kewsociety.org We’ll be happy to explore how they can help us.
As Charlotte says “It’s a great way to help the local community, meet local people and raise awareness of the great work Kew Society does – and of course it also completes your DofE volunteering requirements!”
Please note that all students under 18 must be accompanied by an adult while volunteering with us and the adult must be a member of Kew Society. Students will be given training for their different roles.
