Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe LONDON, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- The Duke of Edinburgh Award, founded in 1956 to encourage outdoor activities and community service, plans to drop its patron's name from some ads. Peter Westgarth, the new executive director, told Scotland on Sunday, the organization is testing new advertising slogans and logos aimed at attracting more youngsters from minority groups and low-income families. Advertisement "The long-winded title of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, when we are directly talking to young people, we will shorten to 'The Award,'" he said. When the awards were first given in 1956, Queen Elizabeth II and her husband were considered a breath of fresh air. The duke had been a serving Navy officer in World War II, while the queen, as a young princess, put in some time as a driver and mechanic in the ATS. But the duke is now 84, and few young people find him relevant. The newspaper reports, however, that he plans to remain patron and to pass on the responsibility to his youngest son, Edward, Earl of Wessex.
