78 By the Dart • BRNC - Behind the Scenes


hours depending on, among other things, how talkative the VIP is. “Things are often shortened if it’s bad weather! The only weather that will stop a passing out parade is lightening because of the swords that are held sky-wards during the march. That becomes a bit of a health and safety concern!” There are quite a few health and safety issues


that need to be considered before an event of this scale and the job of addressing them falls to Jacqui Hunt. she has to make sure the day goes by without any slips, trips or fainting. The college has a park and ride service for the day courtesy of South Hams Council. People are bussed into the grounds and Jacqui has to make sure all the older visitors get off safely and make it up to the parade ground. Once there, those eager to rest their legs make a bee line


for the parapet wall: “My heart literally skips a beat every time I see someone perching on it as it has a five metre drop the other side,” says Jacqui with her hand on her chest. Her answer is to send cadets round giving out chairs and encouraging people to sit on the grass. It doesn’t stop there though: “Pretty much every activity has health and safety concerns if you look hard enough. This is a beautiful historic building which we can’t really change so we just have to warn people about things like slipping over on the wooden floor. If it’s been a wet day you will often find me on my hands and knees with towels to try and dry it as people walk through!” For those who manage


to stay upright there is plenty of food and drink to look forward to throughout the day and the thousand canapés are the responsibility of Tracy Harrison from ESS Catering. Her team start organising the food months in advance, she will need 70 staff on the day and the chefs are in from 6am. “The cooking and serving is usually the easy bit, the hard part is getting everyone’s information back on time – how many guests are the cadets bringing? How many of them are planning to eat? Do any of them have any dietary requirements?” As well as arranging two formal receptions, a VIP get together at the Captain’s House and a special sit down meal for the team of cadets who have scored the most points over the year, Tracy also has to feed the cadets who aren’t passing out and expect their lunch and dinner as usual! •


Photographs © Craig Keating BRNC


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