The number of young people from Barking and Dagenham achieving the Duke of Edinburgh Award (DofE) has seen an increase of nearly 50%.

146 young people from the borough achieved the award in 2017/18 which is a 224% increase from 2013.

In total 368 youngsters enrolled on the programme of which 234 were for Bronze, 100 Silver and 34 for the Gold award.

Councillor Evelyn Carpenter, Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement said: “It’s fantastic to see so many young people have achieved the Duke of Edinburgh award not just in the last year but over the last five years.

“Our young people are taking it upon themselves to change their futures and improving their life chances by achieving this award.”

A large number of young people (68%) achieving the award have come from disadvantaged backgrounds.

There are currently 14 centres in the borough and Riverside School contributed the largest number of new starters with 117 in 2017/18.

For more information on the DofE, visit their website.