Plymouth named second most adventurous UK city

New research from youth charity, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE), identifies Plymouth as the second most adventurous city in the UK behind Norwich with almost a third of all adults stepping outside of their comfort zone at least once a month.

The survey of 2,000 UK adults identified anxiety and preferring to feel safe and comfortable as the two top reasons why Plymouth-based adults avoid adventure.

Having a family stops over a third of Plymouth adults from stepping outside of their comfort zone, whilst 17% of people acknowledged that there isn’t any good reason preventing them from taking on a challenge.

But when we do undertake a challenge, 51% of us say our confidence is boosted as a result.

And it seems that the British spirit of helping others could be the secret to helping us get more adventure in our lives with almost half revealing they’d challenge themselves if it did some good for others.

Better known for helping young people to challenge themselves, build essential skills and transform their lives, the DofE Charity is calling for people across the country to get a flavour of its life-changing benefits and take part in the ‘DofE Challenge’ or ‘DofE Adventure’ this year.

Following the hugely successful year-long DofE Challenge last year, the Charity’s latest initiatives are designed to rekindle the whole nation’s appetite for adventure, with the money raised enabling more young people to access the DofE over the coming years.

The ‘DofE Challenge’ encourages the nation to achieve a personal challenge this year, from learning a new skill, to scaling the three peaks or completing a sky dive – the opportunities are endless. While the ‘DofE Adventure’ is a pre-planned expedition through the Peak District with overnight base camps, and participants choosing to complete a one or two-day experience.

The DofE’s CEO Peter Westgarth said: “The response to last year’s DofE Challenge was truly phenomenal, and we’re delighted to be able to offer the chance for more people to take on a challenge or adventure this year with the launch of our two new initiatives.

“Being able to push yourself past boundaries is an essential part of personal development and is something that the DofE instils in thousands of young people every year through the DofE Award. We want every person across the UK to love adventure and realise that there is more in them than they think.”

Visit www.DofEChallenge.org to find out more and sign up.