Ellis volunteered on one of our home-building expeditions in 2014. She used the opportunity to complete the residential section for her Gold Duke of Edinburgh. If you woud like more information about our expeditions and how you can combine them with your DofE please email expeditions@vinetrust.org

I volunteered to go on my Vine Trust home-building expedition to complete my residential section for my Gold Duke of Edinburgh. This section requires you to go away for 5 days and 4 nights on an activity of your choice with people you do not know. At only 17 years old going on an expedition to Tanzania with a group of people I didn’t know was a big task but I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I went to Tanzania on a home-building expedition of only 11 people. This was a small team but we worked hard to achieve what any other team would achieve with bigger numbers. I loved my time in Tanzania and can’t wait until I get another opportunity to go again. In Tanzania my team built two homes and worked on a third as well as helped with a children’s home that was near its final stages. We got plenty time to play with the children at both construction sites and in the children’s home that was situated near the one we were finishing off. This was great fun and allowed us to build relationships with the people over there. Being only 17 I connected with the young children and they were all drawn to me, their happy faces were the highlight of my trip.

Although the trip required a lot of work we also got the opportunity to go on a two day safari. Three of my team jumped at the chance and we enjoyed the experience exploring two craters and seeing wild animals in their natural habitat. We went on the Safari with a school group which were also taking part in an expedition with the Vine Trust.

I have given several talks to Duke of Edinburgh groups about my experiences and highlighted to them that there are unique opportunities they can undertake to complete their gold residential section.

My two week expedition to Tanzania was easily the best experience of my life. I got to undertake many great activities as well as meet many brilliant people. These people were not only from my team but were the genuine, down to earth people I met out there such as the families I built a house for and the children in the children’s homes and the school.

Ellis