The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award (DofE Award) is a prestigious educational programme for young people aged 14 to 24 that helps them to develop their skills and actively use their free time. The programme has been available in the Czech Republic since 1995. The programme was founded in 1956 by Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth of the UK and Duke of Edinburgh, together with Kurt Hahn, a German educationalist and renowned promoter of experience learning, and Lord Hunt, leader of the first successful ascent of Mt. Everest. Since then, 8 million young people in over 140 countries have participated. In the Czech Republic, the Award was introduced by Lady Abrahams, who was a golf champion in Czechoslovakia between the two World Wars.