4^th Dimension is an Approved Activity Provider (AAP) for the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme at all three levels of the Expedition Section, Bronze, Silver and Gold, both on foot and on the water. We are also a provider for the Gold Residential Section of the Award.

We pride ourselves in delivering exceptional skills training and expedition management to ensure the successful completion of each Award, no matter what level. We work closely with all our clients, whether that be a large school Bronze cohort of up to 200 participants or a small Gold team of 4 individuals, to provide a programme that is tailored to your personal requirements.

All we need from you is an idea on numbers, a preferred expedition venue and which mode of travel you would like to use to complete the expedition; on foot or on the water – We will do the rest!

We also provide the following equipment if required:

For over 30 years, 4th Dimension has run an outdoor activity centre in West Sussex, providing adventurous activities, education courses and DofE expedition packages. All of our instructors have been trained to become team development specialists to ensure our adventure activity courses are delivered to the highest level possible.

Our ethos is to provide an educational benefit to all participants. Not only is it good to be outdoors and active, which promotes a great sense of mental wellbeing, we feel it is important to ensure that our experiences, in addition, are developmental so that all our clients leave having learnt something new!

Some of these skills will include:

• Independence and Responsibility
• Team Work and Leadership
• Cooperation with Peers and Adults
• Dealing with New and Challenging Situations
• Working Together in an Environment that involves ‘Learning Outside the Classroom’
• Learning valuable life skills that will assist with future development

Insurance

We hold a £10m Public Liability Insurance Policy with the Activities Industry Mutual (AIM) that covers you in the case of our negligence. It does NOT cover personal accident, cancellation or curtailment, personal luggage or health insurance. We strongly advise you take out your own insurance to cover these areas.

4th Dimension cannot take responsibility for the loss or damage to personal belongings including items left in tents, buildings, vehicles or lost/damaged during your expedition. You are advised not to bring valuable items with you. All personal property is your responsibility unless it becomes lost or damaged due to our negligence.

How We Propose to Manage the Risk and Make our Facilities ‘Covid Secure’:

We are of the view that encouraging young people to continue with their expeditions when it has been deemed safe to do so is very important to help promote mental and physical wellbeing. The combination of fresh air and sunshine has been stated by the Prime Minister to be ‘bad for the virus’ making the outdoor environment ‘safer for everyone’.

With this is mind, we will be implementing a series of changes to our expedition process based from our site at Blackland Farm. The Award Scheme have also made a number of temporary rule changes to the Expedition section to comply with Department for Education guidelines and to ensure that the Expeditions are as Covid Secure as practicable. Some of the changes include:

1. Bronze participants who progress to Silver will be able to use their Silver practice expedition as their qualifying expedition at Bronze. Silver participants who progress to Gold will be able to use their Gold practice expedition as their qualifying expedition at Silver.

2. At Silver and Gold level, practice expeditions and qualifying expeditions can be delivered ‘back to back’.

3. We’ve relaxed the rules around recommended environments, so participants don’t have to leave their local area to complete an expedition.

4. Leaders can use motorised transport to take participants to the start point of their route and pick them up at their end point.

5. Teams at all Award levels are allowed to return home to sleep during their expedition.

6. Expedition Assessors for Silver and Gold levels can be known to the group.

These changes will apply until 31^st July 2021 – You can view full details on the flexibilities of ‘Running expeditions during the COVID-19 outbreak’ here:

https://www.dofe.org/dofewithadifference/expedition-flexibilities