Meet Jared. He’s the first student to choose volunteering with us as part of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award DofE, a prestigious youth achievement award open to young people aged 14-24 that encourages personal development and community engagement. 

Accompanied by his mum, Sarah, Jared attends the NCI Mablethorpe station on a weekly basis to learn about the skills needed to be a watchkeeper, alongside Station Manager Paul and the Mablethorpe crew.  

A lover of the outdoors, scouting, photography and keen mathematician, Jared’s interest in the work of our National Coastwatch volunteers was sparked by a chance visit to his local Mablethorpe station:   

“Mum and I were out for a walk and decided to pop into the station to see what they were doing. We were really surprised to discover how much goes on and how many different things a watchkeeper is involved with. I knew I wanted to find out more,” said Jared. 

Although Jared’s age means he is not yet able to qualify as a watchkeeper, special arrangements have been put in place by Station Manager Paul, Sarah and Jared’s school to allow him to volunteer and shadow the highly trained watchkeepers.  

“I’ve been told that no-one else doing the DofE scheme has ever chosen to volunteer with NCI. I’ve been doing it for a few months now and I’m really enjoying learning about tides, weather, the phonetic alphabet and the best bit is using the optics and AIS radar system. I’d love to do more of it when I can,” he said.  

Jared’s school, John Spendluffe Technology College, in Alford, Lincolnshire supports his initiative to volunteer with NCI as part of his DofE Award. The college DofE manager, Miss Bolland, said:  

“The Award is a fantastic opportunity for young people to develop their spirit of adventure and learn new skills. It’s great to hear about Jared finding a volunteering opportunity within the local community and hopefully future DofE participants will volunteer with National Coastwatch.”  

NCI Mablethorpe Station Manager Paul added: “We’re always looking for new volunteers to join us and we hope that Jared will become one of our crew when he’s eligible and perhaps Sarah too! We’re all really enjoying sharing some of our expertise with him and Sarah and it’s fantastic how quickly he’s been picking up all the skills that we use to spot, plot and report as part of our work helping to save lives along the coast.”