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Sophie Rennie


By Ginny Farrell F


irst and foremost she is the Navy Cadets Liaison Officer at Britannia Royal Naval College – a job


which led her to relocate to Dartmouth from Exeter in 2015. She has since also taken over the role of


organising the thrice annual college balls for the hundreds of newly commissioned Royal Naval Officers who celebrate their passing out with family and friends. To boot, Sophie is also a


volunteer deputy launch authority and joint press officer for Dart RNLI Lifeboat, the chief powerboat instructor at Dartmouth Yacht Club, a member of the Friends of Dartmouth Orchard and the Dartmouth Litteracy Society litter picking group which she co-runs with Andora Glanville, and has recently become a town councillor. She is also a national


Sophie Rennie is a relative newcomer to Dartmouth but in seven short years she has immersed herself fully into local life and enjoys a variety of key roles in the town.


got the bite there,” Sophie said. Twelve years later she became a


national instructor for the BSAC. “Diving has since taken me all over the


world; training and running courses. The Galapagos Islands are my favourite because there is big shark life, manta rays and turtles – it’s just wow-factor diving.” Diving also led to Sophie’s career as an MOD civil servant. “In 2000 I was brought onto


“I always had a


mission to try and find a big problem in the


the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) team because I was a BSAC national instructor and also a RYA (Royal Yachting Association) powerboat instructor. “We run camps and


world, and try and see if I could create, not a complete solution, but maybe an intervention for something.”


instructor for the British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC) and finds time in her busy life to care for her 92-year-old mum who lives with her at home. Born in Glasgow but brought up in Newmarket, Suffolk, Sophie boarded at St Felix School in Southwold, which she loved, before gaining a Joint Honours Degree in sports science and geography at Brunel University London, followed by a Master of Philosophy in exercise physiology. It was while travelling after taking time


out following her education that Sophie experienced something that would alter the course of her life. “When I was in Australia I found myself wanting to dive the Great Barrier Reef, and I


courses for CCF cadets countrywide, although the ones I am involved with are generally at HMS Raleigh and BRNC Dartmouth.” Sophie became a Sub Lieutenant Royal


Navy Reserve (RNR) after an intense week- long course learning the navy basics, and eventually landed the job as liaison officer at BRNC. “My role is to plan and execute visits by


CCF school contingents.” explained Sophie. “We invite youngsters, who are aged


between 14 to 16 in the main, to the college for the weekend about four times a term. “I introduce them to the Hindustan, which is the grey ship at Sandquay, which is their home for the weekend, and I take them out on the river in either the picket boats or the motor whalers. We go up to the castles or to Dittisham and they get to


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