44 NAVY NEWS, SEPTEMBER 2010


Awards in North West


CADETS and adult volunteers in the North-West of England have been rewarded for their efforts in a series of presentations around the area.


Barrow unit, was awarded the Lord Lieutenant’s Certificate of Merit, presented by the Lord Lieutenant of Cumbria, Col James Cropper, at a ceremony in Carlisle. Hannah, officially the best Sea Cadet in the county thanks to this award, is presently studying for a Diploma in Hospitality at Furness College and has ambitions of a career with the Royal Navy. Lt (SCC) Ann Lewis RNR, the Commanding Officer of Runcorn unit, stepped into the spotlight at a ceremony in Chester. Lt Lewis was presented with the Lord Lieutenant’s Certificate for Exceptional Service by the Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire, David Briggs.


POC Hannah Burton, of


The citation for her award – one of three for the county – praised Lt Lewis’s “inspirational leadership and motivational skills that have built a strong team of adult volunteers for Runcorn’s Sea Cadet Corps – enabling the youngsters not only to be trained in all subjects for their personal development as Sea Cadets but also as responsible citizens within society.” At the same event POC Annabel Broad of Crewe unit received the Lord Lieutenant’s Certificate of Merit – her reward for being selected as the best Sea Cadet in Cheshire.


Among her achievements with the unit was the negotiation of a special discount from the local canoe club, enabling many cadets to gain British Canoe Union qualifications.


Meanwhile the Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester,


Col


Warren Smith, made awards to three members of the Corps. Lt Cdr (SCC) Alan Williams


RNR, North West Area Training Officer,


Lieutenant’s Certificate for Exceptional Service,


received the Lord with his


management and charity work being cited; Lt Cdr (SCC) Graham Broadbent RNR, CO of Tameside unit, won the same award for his modernisation of the unit; and POC Daniel Edmondson, of Bolton unit, won the Lord Lieutenant’s Certificate of Merit for being the top Sea cadet in Greater Manchester.


Speaker is host


SOUTHWARK cadets took part in a prestigious Cadet 150 event hosted by the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, in his apartment in the Palace of Westminster. POCs Kerry Szmidt and George Whitfield mustered in Horseferry Road before marching with other cadets to the Palace. The youngsters and adult


volunteers then spent two hours chatting to politicians, including Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox, Home Secretary Theresa May, Defence Minister Andrew Robathan and former Defence Minister Bob Ainsworth.


Rope trick


MEMBERS of Waltham Forest, City of London, Clapton and Edmonton units took part in the Armed Forces Day event organised by Chingford Royal British Legion. Also there were sailors from the HMS Sultan engineering school and other cadet organisations. TS Acorn, the Waltham Forest


unit, provided the guard for the unit’s Colours, carried by POC Earle. And Acorn also supplied the


tug o’ war team which took on their RAF and Army counterparts – and took the victory laurels. They finished off with a display of club swinging and a hornpipe.


● The Duchess of Cornwall meets cadets during her visit to Wallasey unit TS Astute


WALLASEY cadets welcomed the Duchess of Cornwall to their unit – then put on a series of displays to show what they have learned in the Corps. The guard for the royal visitor, who is patron of


swinging by the Sea Cadets and a drill display by the Royal Marine Cadets.


TS Astute, was provided by the unit’s Royal Marine Cadet detachment. The Duchess enjoyed a rigging display and cutlass-


She then took a tour of the unit with the chairman John Mason and First Lieutenant PO Chris Hughes,


Royal visitor for Wallasey Pulling power


HARD work paid off when the Oxford unit open boys crew won the Southern Area pulling title. Their reward? More hard work


in advance of the national regatta this month... The performance of the crew (pictured right) thrilled team manager PO (SCC) Sue Sherlock. “I am absolutely delighted with


the way my team won through to the national competition,” said


PO Sherlock. “It is something we have


worked on for a long time now, and is something I have wanted to achieve for many years. I am extremely proud of the team. “We will now have to spend


many more hours on the river down by Donnington Bridge trying to improve yet further and hopefully pick up the national trophy.”


Engineering workshop refurbished


BUDDING engineers in Barrow now have a state-of-the-art workshop and classroom to master their skills, thanks to Centrica Energy Upstream. The East Irish Sea operation


donated £6,500 to the Barrow- in-Furness unit to refurbish its engineering workshop centre at cadet headquarters. It was officially re-opened after cash was donated from Morecambe’s community budget and the Morecambe Helicopter Memorial Fund, set up in memory of the seven people killed in a helicopter crash in 2006. Ted Creighton,


commanding officer, said the assistance and investment had transformed the facility. “We moved into the building


● Maj (SCC) Steve Crawley RMR at the trench he dug at Ajax Bay during the Falklands Confl ict in 1982 – complete with green tarpaulin, the remains of which can be seen on the left


Falklands veterans travel south again


A VISIT to the most southerly Sea Cadet unit was also a chance for two members of staff to take a brief stroll down


Memory Lane. And for one of the two, Southern


Area Troop Commander Maj (SCC) Steve Crawley RMR, the


lane was exactly how he left it almost 30 years ago. Maj Crawley and Cdr Andy


Giles, Area Officer South, travelled to Stanley to see how cadets in the Falklands were getting along. The pair conducted the annual


Authority to Train inspections and a Royal Naval Parade, witnessed


cadet activities and provided the Marine Cadet detachment with specialist guidance and advice. Highlights of the visit were the parade, where the cadets produced an impressive showcase of their talents, and getting afloat in Stanley Harbour alongside the youngsters.


Both visitors are Falklands


veterans, and were invited to take part in commemoration ceremonies at the British cemetery overlooking San Carlos Water – otherwise known as Bomb Alley. On completion of the service


a trip was arranged on a landing craft across the water to Ajax Bay, the site of the field hospital and logistics base in 1982, and the exact spot where Maj Crawley came ashore 28 years ago. This part of the visit was


particularly poignant for Maj Crawley, as he accurately located the trench he had dug by hand and lived in for seven weeks almost three decades ago – and the remnants of his green tarpaulin were still clearly in place over the trench and intact.


Portrush wins grant


posing for photographs with the unit’s adult volunteers, committee members and cadets. She also drew the raffle ticket for a six-piece tea set


provided by Clarence House. The Duchess was presented with flowers by Cdt Chloe Caldwell and a Corps crest by AC Dean. Astute’s VIP guest praised the unit and its members, who were very excited by her presence – among the comments were: “She actually spoke to me!”, “When is she coming again?” and “Does she live in a palace?”


PORTRUSH cadets have helped mark the cadet movement’s 150th anniversary at events in Bangor, Northern Ireland. Portrush cadets also took part in a visit to Buckingham Palace earlier in the summer, and as Navy News went to press two members of the unit travelled to the Netherlands to take part in the International Maritime Confederation sailing camp at Den Helder. Having suffered storm and flood damage to their headquarters last summer, the unit was delighted to be awarded a youth capital grant of £130,000 by the Department for Education. The grant is being used to refurbish the entire unit building, which was built by volunteers and cadets in 1961.


Which means the unit should be in good shape for its 70th anniversary in 2012.


five years ago to teach the cadets mechanical and electrical engineering,” he explained. “The area we were teaching in


the cadets’


was an old working men’s club in a garage. “It was very cold in the winter, with a concrete floor and a garage door so it wasn’t the best teaching environment. “Between September and April the room was unusable because if you were in there for more than five minutes you were too cold. “We had to use other rooms


that weren’t kitted out for the purpose. “Now we have an excellent teaching environment to do the training.” The donation paid for building


materials and labour to insulate the workshop,


and modernise the electrics and plumbing. Centrica Energy also provided new tools, workbenches and a projector, as well as redundant valves, pumps and motors for the cadets to take apart and work on. Cadet Alex Sales thanked the


install heating


business, saying: “I hope it will help me get a good job at sea.” Cadet Steven Eaton agreed,


saying: “I’m looking forward to learning about electrical and mechanical instruction in the new classroom.”


Boat station celebrates


THE North West Area boating station TS Palatine celebrated 50 years of training adults and cadets with an open day.


Whitehaven, Buxton, Rochdale and Wigan, plus members of the Air Training Corps who use the centre on a regular basis joining in, the open day’s success was guaranteed.


With Sea Cadets from


On hand to support the day’s activities and celebrations was the North West Deputy Area Officer Lt Colin Jones RN (Rtd) and his wife Barbara. Laser Performance UK, who brought some of their sailing boats, had a representative on hand to offer help and advice. Another of the guests was Albert


Light, from the Portsmouth branch of the Masonic Lodge – the lodge donated six new Laser Bugs and he was delighted to see the cadets enjoying the new boats. With sailing boats, power boats, canoes and windsurfing boards all on the water at the same time the order of the day was serious fun. Once the day’s activities were


over the centre held a party for the staff that had helped over the years to make the centre a success. Speeches by the centre Chief


Instructor PO (SCC) Ian Bowman and the centre Superintendent Lt Cdr (SCC) Tom Bowman RNR, praised all the adults who have helped to bring about the changes that have improved the centre and made it so successful. They also thanked the Area office for all their support. The centre welcomed many


visitors throughout the day and the open day gave the public an opportunity to see the facilities available.


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