DofE Silver
Walking Expeditions
Powered by 50 years of family experience in organising and leading quality Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expeditions at all levels for schools, groups & individuals. We combine our drive for adventure with industry-leading safety systems in everything we do.
From £345pp*
For participants aged 15+
(or turning 15 in that academic year)
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“Sam Sykes™ has provided a top quality service for our DofE expeditions this year. Always ready to accommodate any situation, Sam is flexible and professional and we look forward to our future expeditions with his company.”
Isobel Riley, Rossall School
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“Sam Sykes Ltd have organised our expeditions for the past 6 years, and have never failed to deliver a memorable experience for our students, whilst providing the school with confidence that they are in safe hands. The service they provide is excellent, always responsive to our individual needs, and the effort and professionalism of their staff is second to none.”
Karin Austin – DofE Coordinator – The Tiffin Girls’ School, Kingston upon Thames
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“Sam Sykes has never failed to impress when he speaks to our parents during the D of E information evenings, providing relevant information and confidence in the award and how it is run. His team challenges our girls safely in an outdoors environment, and we have confidence in their leadership of the award. Communication with the Sykes team is always first class, and we have enjoyed an excellent relationship with them over the last four years, finding them to be thoroughly professional and always flexible to meet our particular needs.”
Julia Harrington – Headmistress – Queen Annes School, Caversham
*All prices shown are subject to VAT at current rates - All prices shown are valid until 31/07/24
Silver Lite
6 Day
3 Day Training & Practice Expedition followed by a separate
3 Day Assessed Expedition
4 Nights Camping
1:7 Ratio
Instructor to Participant
£345pp*
The Lite expedition is the stripped-down version of our highly respected Classic expedition.
The lite approach is cheaper, faster and less impactful to school curriculums and commitments than our Classic expeditions.
This has quickly become a firm favourite for many of our customers across the UK and overseas.
Our Silver Lite expeditions require no assistance from school staff during the evenings and overnights to assist with the pastoral requirements of participants.
Silver Classic
7 Day
4 Day Training & Practice Expedition followed by a separate
3 Day Assessed Expedition
5 Nights Camping
1:7 Ratio
Instructor to Participant
£405pp*
Our Classic expeditions have been carefully designed and developed for nearly half a century. This is the best approach if you want to deliver a well-rounded, adventurous and developmental DofE journey for your participants.
Prior to our DofE Lite offerings, the highly respected Classic expeditions were the only package we delivered to our customers, and they still remain the very best balance between cost and a quality DofE experience.
Our Silver Classic expeditions require no assistance from school staff throughout the evenings and overnights to assist with the pastoral requirements of participants.
The Sam Sykes price match guarantee ensures you secure the very best price with us.
We will match any like-for-like prices that you find anywhere else.
Sam explains our Lite expeditions in this short video
The Lite expedition is the stripped-down version of our highly respected Classic expedition. The lite approach is cheaper, faster and less impactful to school curriculums and commitments than our Classic expeditions and has become a firm favourite for many of our customers across the UK and overseas.
What is a Lite expedition?
What is Classic
expedition?
Sam explains our Classic expeditions in this short video
Our Classic expeditions have been carefully designed and developed for nearly half a century. This is the best approach if you want to deliver a well-rounded, adventurous and developmental DofE journey for your participants.
What’s included in our DofE walking expeditions:
Administration, planning, support and logistics
We assist with your DofE & EVC paperwork.
We organise the venues, pick-ups, drop-offs and itineraries for you a long time in advance.
Campsites are organised, booked and paid for by us.
Access to our participant & parent information area that has everything your participants need to be prepared for a great expedition.
In-school presentations are available on request.
Professional presentation videos to inform participants and parents of how it works and what to expect.
24-hour, 365-day emergency line for your peace of mind.
Sam Sykes vehicles on site for your expedition.
References from existing customers are available on request.
Staff, insurance & safety
AALS license holder. Annually checked - Very Large Provider - R1876 • View PDF >
£10,000,000 combined liability insurance cover • View PDF >
Registered as a DofE Approved Activity Provider for expeditions and residential courses.
Industry leading safety systems, risk assessments and operating procedures. Our Company Policy document is sent to all of our customers in advance.
Over five decades of experience delivering expeditions over 5 continents.
A highly respected staff team of over 250 instructors, each hand selected for their experience, professionalism and friendly approach.
All instructors have an appropriate high-level National Governing Body qualification for the type of expedition, a full enhanced DBS background check and an outdoor first aid qualification.
One instructor to one expedition team for the ultimate in quality delivery and safety.
On our expeditions, the instructor team are responsible for the participants 24 hours a day - from the moment they arrive to the moment they go home. The very best in supervision across the industry.
We provide assessors for all groups. The assessor reports are collated after the expedition and sent through to you for submission via eDofE.
Each expedition has a specific expedition manager overseeing all instructors, participants, safety frameworks and logistics so you can work with us in confidence.
A DOC (Designated on Call) member of the Sam Sykes senior management team is available 24 hours a day when expeditions are live. They oversee multiple expedition managers across our expeditions, which adds another level of safety backup for your expedition.
A fleet of Sam Sykes vehicles are on-site and available for all expeditions 24 hours a day when underway.
Equipment
Sam Sykes prides itself as being long-term ambassadors for a variety of outdoor brands. You will see Sam represent Vango as their DofE champion in various publications. We are well known in the industry for providing exceptional expedition equipment for our groups.
Here’s what we include with all of our expeditions…
Tents - Vango.
Rucksacks - Vango.
Rucksack liners.
Sleeping mats.
Foldable and lightweight gas stoves - Vango.
Stainless steel pan sets - MSR.
Gas - all you need for the duration.
Maps - OS 1:25,000.
Compass - Silva Expedition 4.
Group first aid kit with emergency action cards.
Group emergency mobile phone.
Route cards, pens & administrative items.
Spares - We carry a limited range of clothing and food on all expeditions just in case.
What do our instructors cover?
The instructors will supervise the participants throughout the expedition.
Equipment Choice.
Rucksack packing and fitting.
Food.
First Aid.
Emergency procedures.
Navigation.
Route planning and weather.
Hygiene.
Camp-craft.
The 20 conditions of the DofE expedition section.
The countryside code.
Teamwork, communication & leadership.
Team development.
Physical fitness & training.
Post training and practice expedition de brief and action plan.
Expedition aims & presentations.
What’s not included in our DofE walking expeditions
We do not normally arrange or assist with transport to and from the expedition locations.
Personal clothing, walking boots & sleeping bag • watch a video about what clothing and equipment to bring here >
Food for the duration of the expedition • watch a video about what food to bring here >
Personal accident, cancellation or curtailment insurance.
Expedition locations to suit you
We currently deliver our expeditions anywhere in the United Kingdom mainland.
Silver and Gold expeditions normally operate in one of the Welsh, English or Scottish National Parks
please contact us for further details.
Don’t fancy a walking expedition?
We have you covered! We deliver all types of expedition - Horse Riding, Canoeing, Kayaking, Sailing, Cycling, Hybrid, SEN, Disabled and Bespoke.
Check out all of our expedition types here
What makes us the best choice?
Bespoke global DofE expedition expertise
The Duke of Edinburgh Award changes the lives of young people with its unique mix of personal development, challenge and achievement.
To ensure this amazing opportunity is available to as many people as possible, Sam Sykes delivers professionally led DofE expeditions across the UK and overseas. With nearly 50 years’ of family experience in organising and leading expeditions at all levels, we combine practical experience and legislative knowledge with a real thirst for adventure.
Our expeditions challenge participants without ever compromising their safety, meaning young people benefit from a challenging and memorable experience delivered by dedicated and qualified leaders, while schools and youth organisations gain peace of mind from knowing they are in safe hands.
Operating from our base in the heart of the UK’s best adventure playground, the Lake District, we offer a totally flexible approach to ensure every trip delivers exactly what you need – and more!
Sam Sykes, the founder, has been involved in the Duke of Edinburgh Award from the moment he was born
His father and mentor, Stuart Sykes MBE, has dedicated over 50 years of his life delivering the DofE as a volunteer to young people. This earned Stuart the MBE in 2002 for his services to young people.
Their knowledge and experience of, and dedication to, the DofE is unmatched in this country, delivering unique and exceptional expeditions throughout the UK.
Sam himself has achieved remarkable things, both personally and professionally, in the great outdoors. He climbed his first mountain at only three years of age, before going on to scale Europe’s largest mountain by the time he was 18. By the time he was a young man, Sam was using the experience gained to organise expeditions himself, both in the UK and around the world.
Setting up Sam Sykes Ltd in 2009, Sam’s aim was to create the world’s best DofE expedition company and, a few years later, we now work with schools and organisations across the globe to provide unforgettable experiences for thousands of young people.
With a firm focus on ensuring all participants are safe while enjoying the most exciting adventures, the company can now genuinely claim that Sam has made good on his aim when he started out. His passion, experience and dedication is reflected throughout the organisation he has created and has led Sam Sykes to become one of the world’s leading providers of DofE expeditions.
What motivates Sam?
Let me tell you a story…
“I know that doing what I do makes a difference for the better and, most importantly, I know why I set out to build the best expedition company in the world.”
On my way to meeting another school who wanted to do DofE expeditions with me I popped into a Costa, and when I was ordering a large coffee to perk me up after a long drive two young men who were in their early twenties came straight up to me and said: “Sam, we did our DofE with you in the Lakes…Do you remember?” I did, they looked a little older and had filled out a bit more from the seventeen year olds I remember, but it was them.
My memory flashed to a moment at a checkpoint on the summit of Hellvellyn in glorious sunshine; I remember the group like it was yesterday and the pride-filled smiles as I took a picture for them with the Lake District mountains as a backdrop.
I shook their hands and asked how they were doing, and they told me all about uni and getting their first jobs. We talked about the DofE expedition and they smiled from ear to ear whilst reminiscing.
They told me about how they were asked about their DofE in job interviews and that they had been out on their own adventurous trips during breaks from university to the Alps and Morocco. They told me how much they loved it, and how the expedition in the Lakes was so good they wish they could do it again – their enthusiasm was infectious.
I was smiling like a cheshire cat as well. Ultimately they told me that it had helped them, and one told me his younger sister was doing her Gold DofE expedition later that year with me – and to make sure I didn’t cut her any slack! The guys thanked me for the expedition again and I wished them the best of luck with their new jobs and said goodbye.
As I walked back to my car I couldn’t stop smiling. I had made a difference to those young men, and everything I have been working towards and the reason why I do it had just been justified by an idle chat in a Costa coffee.
That wasn’t the first time this sort of thing has happened and it fortunately hasn’t been the last, but when I wake up in the morning I know that doing what I do makes a difference for the better and, most importantly, I know why I set out to build the best expedition company in the world.
I believe that if you really want to do something well in life you need to know why you do it.
Sam Sykes
Contact us
If you are unsure of anything, or have any queries, please do get in touch.
We’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.
A message from Sam
At Sam Sykes, we are proud to offer our customers and participants a positive experience at the highest standards.
With over 50 years’ experience as an activity provider with extensive knowledge of organising and leading affordable DofE expeditions at all levels, we combine the required skills, practical experience and legislative knowledge with a real thirst for adventure.
We would love to work with your school and can be flexible in our approach to suit your needs. We have outlined our current and tested approach on this page, as it is what we have found works best for many of our customers.
However, if you are not satisfied with something, require more information, or have any questions, please let us know. We can deal with it accordingly and amend our offering as necessary to meet your exact requirements and create a more bespoke package.
I would be more than happy to come and discuss your needs in more detail in a no-obligation meeting. Please let me know the best date and time in the form below, and we can arrange accordingly.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sam Sykes
Resources for Teachers
