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Expedition Supervisors All expeditions, including practice expeditions, must be supervised by a suitably experienced adult who is competent in the chosen mode of travel. Additionally supervisors should be familiar with the team, their individual abilities and their knowledge of the chosen route. It is also essential that the Supervisor has an understanding of the aims, principles and requirements of the Expedition section – information on this is available from the DofE Leaders Handbook (6th Edition) which is available from SHQ for £5 including postage & packing, or from the Duke of Edinburgh Award website www.dofe.org The supervisor accepts responsibility for the safety and welfare of the team and during the practice must be satisfied that the participants are capable of undertaking the planned expedition. This is important as the Qualifying Expedition for all levels of the Award (Bronze, Silver & Gold) is unaccompanied (it is not permitted for supervisors or other leaders to accompany the group). Whilst the qualifying expeditions are unaccompanied and supervised remotely, Supervisors must always be able to deal with team emergencies. In wild country, coastal and remote areas of marshland, the Supervisor must be based in the area where the expedition takes place, however not walking along with the team. For expeditions on water, horseback, and cycling please see the handbook or website for more details on how these should be supervised. Supervisors may supervise teams more closely for short periods of an expedition when travelling through dangerous environments, however this should be kept to an absolute minimum and used only to allow the team to overcome an unavoidable dangerous area of their route. For the vast majority, if the team does not have the necessary training and skills to operate safely in an area unaccompanied for the duration of the expedition then they should not be in that environment. Supervisors should carry all the relevant safety information including names, addresses and contact numbers for participants, the assessor, your District Commissioner and the DofE Head Office emergency number
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