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Complete your Duke of Edinburgh programme with Cats Protection - you'll develop new skills, gain experience and make new friends

Reasons to complete your Duke of Edinburgh programme with Cats Protection

  • You'll develop new skills
  • You'll expand your knowledge
  • Become more confident in working with new people
  • Make new friends
  • Become part of a dedicated team of volunteers
  • Your experience could be useful for UCAS personal statements and National Records of Achievement

Which Cats Protection roles are available to DofE participants?

During your DofE programme, you will volunteer for as little as one hour a week for a minimum of three months, but this can change depending on your role and how much time you can give.

Level Minimum time Note
DofE Bronze - age 14-24
 3-6 months You need to do one of your Volunteering, Physical or Skills sections for six months and the others for three months.
DofE Silver - age 15-24 6-12 months If you have not achieved your Bronze level, you need to extend your volunteering or the longer of your Physical or Skills sections to 12 months.
DofE Gold - age 16-24 12-18 months If you have not achieved your Silver level, you need to extend your Volunteering or the longer of your Physical or Skills section to 18 months.

If you are 14 years or over, we have a number of interesting and impactful ways you can spend your time.

Every centre is different and decisions on the availability of volunteering positions for particular age groups will be made according to whether we can offer the appropriate level of support, to ensure volunteers have a positive experience.

Retail volunteers

Our retail volunteers help raise the funds needed for us to help cats and kittens in need – whether they have a passion for cats, retail or both! They identify, price and sort saleable items from donated stock, and prepare new window and in-store displays. The money raised goes directly to helping our feline friends. Even raising as little as 20p makes a difference, as this is enough to feed a cat in our care for a day.

To find out more about what these roles involve, click on the role descriptions below:

DofE participants must be over 16 years old to volunteer on the till or to steam clothes.

Fundraising volunteers

Our fundraising volunteers are part of a fun team that helps raise funds to help cats in need. They help plan and deliver exciting and varied fundraising events, such as craft fairs, cake sales, sponsored abseils and anything in between! DofE participants must be over 16 years old to fundraise with Cats Protection.

To find out more about what this role involve, click on the role description below:

Cat care volunteers

Across Cats Protection, our feline friends looking for new homes are cared for either at our centres, by volunteer fosterers in their own homes or in purpose built pens in their gardens. Our cat care volunteers are part of a passionate team that look after and meet the needs of cats while they are in our care. This is an exciting role for cat lovers, as our cat care volunteers get to spend time directly with the cats when cleaning their pens, helping with feeding and when enriching their lives before they find their forever homes.

*Duke of Edinburgh placements within our Adoption and Homing Centres are resuming where they have capacity. You will need to contact your nearest site to ask about current cat care opportunities https://www.cats.org.uk/find-us

*Duke of Edinburgh placements within our branches are currently on hold*

To find out more about what our cat care roles involve, click on the role descriptions below:

 

How to apply?

Search for DofE opportunities online.

You can search for (and find contact details for) your nearest Cats Protection site.

For queries, please email volunteering@cats.org.uk or ring us on 03000 12 12 12

Parents/carers: to find out how to help your child get the most from their DofE experience, please see the DofE parents leaflet here

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