Provincial Government Announces Investment in
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Program

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Program has received an investment of $55,000 from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. The funding announced today at the Virginia Park Community Centre in St. John’s is in addition to $78,000 already contributed by the Provincial Government to the organization through Budget 2010-11.

“Our government is pleased to support the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award through an investment from the Grants to Youth Organizations program,” said the Honourable Darin King, Minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment and Minister Responsible for Youth Engagement. “The effective operation of programs such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award relies on having appropriate staffing levels in place. The funding announced today will allow for the hiring of a staff member in the central region as well as the extension of current staff positions in St. John’s.”

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award was founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 and was started in Newfoundland and Labrador in 1974. It is available to all young people ages 14-25, and the program empowers them with life skills to make a difference to themselves, their communities and their country. There are currently 3,100 youth registered in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award program in this province.

“This new funding allows our organization to bring the program to even more youth who can benefit from the personal development and growth the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award encourages,” said Toby Barnes, President of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Program of Newfoundland and Labrador. “It’s especially fitting that we are receiving this funding less than a week after the 90th birthday of Prince Phillip, the founder of the award program. His vision of the program was to equip youth for life’s challenges and we have seen the tremendous opportunities being a participant can bring.”

Through Budget 2011 Standing Strong: For Prosperity. For Our Future. For Newfoundland and Labrador, $700,000 has been allocated for the Grants to Youth Organizations program to support groups that engage youth in areas of self-reliance, leadership and citizen development. Details of this program’s 2011-12 allocations will be announced over the coming months.

For more information about the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, visit www.dukeofed.org. 

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2011 06 16                                                                          4:50 p.m.