l Music by candlelight at the Stonehaven annual mess dinner
Candlelit dinner for Stonehaven
WITH cadets and staff alike looking forward to the annual Stonehaven and District unit mess dinner, nothing was going to get in the way – certainly not a spell of inclement weather... The unit was joined by Area Officer Cdr Mark Buchan-Steele, from MOD Caledonia in Rosyth, as their VIP.
Other top-table guests included unit chaplain Rev David Stewart, former Officer-in-Charge Lt (SCC) Morag Reid RNR and Cadet Mess president POC Michael Blacklaw. The dinner
followed all the
traditions of the Royal Navy wardroom,
including all the
formalities such as being piped into dinner, various graces and toasts and the National Anthem to toast the Queen, followed by speeches and musical entertainment from various cadets and juniors. Unit committee members and staff prepared and served the meal to the cadets and juniors as a thank-you for all their exceptional efforts during a highly-successful 2011.
The dinner was unique as more than half of it was conducted, as it would have been on HMS Victory, under candlelight. Because
of the extreme
conditions experienced north of the border, Stonehaven suffered a power cut which included the unit’s headquarters. Undeterred, the show went
ahead with a three-course meal, speeches
and musical displays
which were largely unaffected by the loss of power. The unit
had welcomed the earlier Lord Lieutenant
of Kincardineshire, Mrs Carol Kinghorn,
present the cadets with their 2011 efficiency burgee. Having once more impressed
assessors, TS Carron picked up its 41st burgee in its 57 year history – and continued an unbroken string of successes stretching back to 1982.
Efficiency burgees are awarded
to the top 25 per cent of units in each area, while the next 50 per cent are eligible for efficiency pennants.
to Stonehaven to
l Pictured at the signing of the MOU on board HMS Victory are, from left:, Captain Sea Cadets Capt Mark Windsor, Capt Colin Welborn, Capt Nigel Palmer, Vice Admiral Charles Montgomery, Martin Coles and Rear Admiral Chris Hockley
Picture: LA(Phot) Jason Ballard Good sign for the Corps
THE Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the MOD and the Marine Society Sea Cadets (MSSC) – the parent body of the Sea Cadet Corps – has been re-signed by senior figures from both organisations. In a demonstration of support for and confidence in the Corps, the Navy’s top personnel officer, Second Sea Lord Vice Admiral Charles Montgomery, convened a gathering in the Great Cabin of HMS Victory to put pen to paper. Those also present at the signing
were MSSC Chief Executive Martin Coles, Captain Sea Cadets
Alan works through ten Olympic sports
ALAN Lawrence
instructor with Worthing unit. He is also getting first-hand
is a civilian
experience of ten sports, some of which are completely new to him – and all in aid of the unit. Alan
took Challenge, up the which Gold meant
participating in ten Olympic sports both to raise money for charity and to encourage wider participation in sport.
His list – slightly amended since he started in mid-2011 – covers swimming,
canoeing,
boxing, weightlifting, running, the triathlon, rowing, sailing, cycling and judo.
And while aiming to complete all ten by the end of this Olympic year, Alan has already achieved the first five, and raised over £500 of his £600 charity target. Some of the sports presented a
particular challenge. In his blog (goldchallenge.
point – his
blogspot.com) Alan points out that swimming, for example, was not a strong
38 FEBRUARY 2012 :
described his style as “directional panic in water”. Both swimming and canoeing had to be re-learned, and three of the sports also come together in the triathlon element. Choices of sport were also influenced by Alan’s work with cadets – rowing and sailing are both regular activities carried out at Worthing and hundreds of sister units around the UK. For more details of the
national challenge see www.
goldchallenge.org That website gives details of the
30 sports from which to choose; participants have completed a sport when they do three hours of formal coaching or take part in a competitive event. The charity
has more than wife
100 partners, including the Sea Cadets, and aims to raise £20 million through the Olympic sport challenge, the 2012 challenge (covering various distances in various sports) or the ‘Gold Challenge in a Gym’.
Capt Mark Windsor, MSSC Chairman Capt Nigel Palmer, Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland Rear Admiral Chris Hockley and Capt Colin Welborne, Chief of Staff (Youth) in the Royal Navy. The MOD expects
that the
operating standards maintained within the Corps will be sufficiently high to present the customs, traditions, culture and uniforms of the Royal Navy in the best possible light and contribute significantly to its standing in the eyes of the general public.
LOCAL MP Caroline Dinenage called in at TS Hornet, HQ of Gosport unit, for their annual awards ceremony.
The politician spent an hour with cadets and staff at their home in the Royal Clarence Marina – an appointment to support the youngsters which she said was not only a very important part of her duties but also a personal pleasure.
Northampton win the Captain’s Cup
2011 ENDED on a high note for Northampton and Wellingborough
when
the unit was awarded the Captain’s Cup in the Canada
Trophy competition. Originally called the Commodore’s Cup
and first
presented by Cdre Parker, Commodore Sea Cadets from 1996-2004, in 1997, it is awarded to the unit which has not won either of the top two awards but has nevertheless made a particular impression on the Captain Sea Cadets,
Windsor. POC Lara
currently Capt Mark Jolley has
also
won the National Award for outstanding leadership with the Duke of Edinburgh Award and
Offshore Training, the
Commander Brown Award. But the trophy haul did not end there.
The unit also took the Ben Line Cup for the best cadet training participation and the Sir Gilbert Stephenson Trophy for achieving 92 per cent efficiency in the previous inspection year, which puts them in the top six units nationally.
These trophies were presented to the unit by Capt Windsor at the Eastern Area Conference. Northampton’s CO, Lt (SCC)
Chris Read RNR, said the awards were “an outstanding achievement for our unit and the of Northamptonshire
District and
Leicestershire units who won the Navy League trophy for being the best district.” In the run-up to Christmas the unit provided shoe boxes
filled
with gifts which were sent to the families of troops in Afghanistan in care homes over Christmas. PO (SCC) Sue Telford was the brains behind the operation, and working in partnership with the local community and cadets she managed to fill 20 such boxes. These were sent to SSAFA homes which support the families
of Service personnel – and the unit also raised £120 towards the cause.
weekend which combined serious fun with some serious sport. Some 30 youngsters wobbled round Milton Keynes ice rink, not all achieving a measure of grace and style but all enjoying the sight of staff braving the open ice. Also concentrating on keeping their balance were the unit’s two girls’ teams which competed in the regional finals of the five-a- side football competition at RAF Cranwell. In
Hertfordshire junior girls, Northampton’s finest were only beaten in a sudden-death penalty shoot-out after the match finished deadlocked at 2-2 after extra time. The final competition of the year
a thrilling final against
was the Northamptonshire and Leicestershire drill competition, hosted by Leicester unit. The piping teams and an armed
drill squad won places in the Eastern regional finals. It will also be the third year
that POC Joseph Barley has represented the county at the Area competition, and he hopes to improve on the 12th place nationally he achieved in 2011. December saw the launch of a major funding appeal. The current shower and toilet block is too small for the membership
cadets, so to give more people the chance to try windsurfing, canoeing and sailing, the unit is aiming to expand these facilities and add extra storage space for boats and kit. The facilities are used by cadets
of around 100 Cadets enjoyed an end-of-year
William is best of Brilliant
WILLIAM Greenwood-Spicer has been declared the wiiner of the Cadet of the Year trophy by Tunbridge Wells unit. The cadet (pictured above with
his prize) lives some 15 miles from the unit’s HQ, TS Brilliant, but the award of the trophy reflected the fact that William still managed to attend all events involving the unit.
Those awarding the trophy
noted that William is always well turned out, polite and keen to become involved.
One such example was his
participation in the group which visited the Menin Gate at Ypres in Belgium.
William traced his great-
grandfather’s time in France in World War 1 in the Machine Gun Corps, which brought the whole experience of the Western Front alive.
He was one of 50 cadets vying for this prize.
on at least three evenings a week, plus weekends, and local schools also come in through the RYA OnBoard programme. See
http://localgiving.com/
charity/northamptonscc for more details. The unit saw out 2011 with their annual carol service at Duke Street church and a traditional Christmas dinner enjoyed by almost
served, as tradition demands, by staff – followed by a disco.
90 youngsters – and
Ready to sail CADETS and
Peterhead unit have been getting stuck in to some serious maintenance in preparation for the 2012 boating season. The unit’s large fleet of 15 boats needs to be ready for the Easter boating course which kick-starts the activity. Staff and cadets have been busy
staff at the
sanding, varnishing, polishing and cleaning the boats.
MP visits Gosport unit
After being met formally by the Unit CO, Lt (SCC) Hilary Gilbert- Jones RNR and unit management committee chairman Lt Cdr (SCC) Ivor Feist RNR (Rtd), Caroline inspected the cadets and took part in Ceremonial Colours. On completion she presented the cadets with their awards: Enrolled
Progressed Enrolled Cadet: AC Joe Jacobs Pulling Award: LC Jessica
Cadets; Best
Varndell Kayaking Trophy: AC Bethany Fieldsend General Boat Handling: AC Andrew Rich Seamanship
Andrew Rich Adventurous Training Award:
Cadet Penny Tribe Shooting
Award: AC
Rachel Sherman Drill and Ceremonial Award: OC Ben Jakes Sports Trophy: Cadet Jack
Jacobs Award: Cadet
Award: AC Joe Jacobs 1st
l MP Caroline Dinenage with Gosport unit’s winning cadets Commanding
Lieutenant’s
Of ficer’s Award:
Cadet Ben Barry Training Officer’s Award: AC Andrew Rich Endeavour
James-Harvey Kirwan Concord Award for Piping:
Trophy: Cadet
Varndell Junior
Attendance Sea
Cadet Ben Barry RNA Pipe of Achievement:
OC Saavik Killeen Cadet of the Year: LC Jessica
Cadet First Class Amy Varndell Most Progressed Cadet
Trophy: Junior Cadets;
Award: Junior Cadet First Class Amy Varndell Sports Award: Junior Cadet
First Class Harry Salmon Participation Award: Junior Cadet Sebastian Frasle Officer-in-Charge of Juniors’
www.navynews.co.uk
Award: Junior Cadet First Class Harry Salmon.
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