Bexley & Lewisham

Volunteering opportunities.

We are currently seeking adult volunteers (aged 18 and over) from the local community to expand the training opportunities which Bexley & Lewisham Sea Cadet Unit can offer to our Cadets. Previous Armed or Cadet forces experience is not needed, but would be advantageous. Enthusiasm is a must!

Current Vacancies: 

- Unit Band Master - To assist in forming a Unit band and managing said band on completion. Knowledge of music and band instruments is essential.

- Boating staff - To offer RYA / BCU training to cadets. Established qualifications would be preferred but courses are available. 

- General Instructional staff - To carry out instructional duties, with a regular commitment, on parade nights (and occasional weekends).

Please note that all our adult volunteers are required to undergo an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau Check (Cost covered by MSSC).

If you are interested in finding out more about what we are looking for, please see our volunteering page HERE or contact the Commanding Officer HERE.

Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant (01/06/2012 - 04/06/2012)

As part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, four cadets and one member of staff from Bexley and Lewisham Unit took part in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant. Using our new Trinity under outboard power, they formed part of the 55 boat Sea Cadet Trinity Flotilla, travelling in diamond formation, each carrying a flag of the Commonwealth Nations, down the Thames and cheering Her Majesty the Queen as they passed the Royal Barge. Cadets and staff were extremely proud to be part of history with this memorable event and are all a credit to the Unit. BZ to all involved!

Diamond Jubilee Medallion Presentation (15/05/2012)

As part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations, District Officer, Lt Cdr (SCC) D. Lewis RNR MBE, presents cadets and staff at Bexley and Lewisham Unit each with a Diamond Jubilee commemorative medallion on behalf of London Southern District

AT Weekend at Allington (13/04/2012 – 15/04/2012)

Cadets and staff attended an Adventurous Training Weekend at our site in Allington, Kent. An excellent but exhausting weekend was had by all with activities including morning exercises to warm up, orienteering, learning to cook food using a trangia and building a camp fire. We look forward to spending many more weekends down at Allington, particularly in the warmer weather!

TS Royalist Voyage (07/04/2012 – 13/04/2012)

Two cadets went offshore for a week on TS Royalist. At the beginning of their trip, unfortunately poor weather conditions and very strong winds meant that they were not able to move far away from the coast and spent several days travelling between Portland and Weymouth. However, they did eventually make it to Jersey where they treated themselves to a much needed trip to McDonalds before their flight home!

Junior Sea Cadet Day Out (01/04/2012)

It’s not just the Senior Cadets who get to have serious fun! Junior Sea Cadets had an exciting and action packed day out with a visit to the Royal Maritime Museum, Greenwich where they learnt about the history of the British Royal Navy and had the opportunity to try out several activities within the museum before going bowling in the afternoon.

District Easter Camp (31/03/2012 - 07/04/2012)

Seven cadets and two staff attended London Southern District Easter Camp held on board at HMS Bristol based in Portsmouth last week. It was a long week of early mornings, involving lots of different lessons, waterborne sessions, evening activities and late nights but think that everyone did have fun! Congratulations to all the cadets who attended, they all achieved either one or two new qualifications!

Working Party at Allington (03/03/2012)

A BIG thank you to all the cadets, staff and supporters who have helped with the working party to clear our slipway at our Allington site. Due to your hard work and effort, we will be able to use our new Trinity far more easily in the coming months.

Worshipful Company of Shipwrights Presentation (01/03/2012)

Two cadets and two staff spent an evening at the Fishmonger's Hall, London Bridge, where the two cadets were presented with bursary awards for a week offshore onboard TS Royalist. The cadets were the first to receive their awards before forming part of a carpet guard to welcome members of the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights to the venue. Both cadets were extremely smart and their high standards of conduct were a credit to the Unit. We hope that they will enjoy their voyage on TS Royalist!

District Football Training (14/01/2012)

Cadets and staff enjoyed an unexpectedly sunny January day at Danson Park, training for the District Football Competition. Thanks to help from one of our parents, cadets were able to benefit from a tiring but extremely fun training session. Congratulations to all the cadets who took part in the District Competition, all teams played extremely well with some achieving medals.

Christingle Service (24/12/11)

The Unit took part in the Christingle Service Friday 24^th December 2011, 5 Staff and 9 Cadets enjoyed the service which was held at St Augustine's Church, Belvedere by the Unit Padre.

I was very proud of the Cadets and their turn out for the service (just need to improve their singing voices!), and thank them for taking part. It is attending community activities such as this, which raises awareness of the Sea Cadets in the area, and will hopefully encourage potential Cadets to come along and join us. 

Morrison's Bag Packing (17 & 23/12/11)

Thank you to all the Cadets and Volunteers that made the bag packing possible on 17^th & 23^rd December. 16 Cadets spent 2 days packing shopping bags for the customers at Morrison’s in Welling, London, to help raise funds for the Unit.

The Unit is required to raise approx £10, 000 per year just to run and pay the bills, and it is by taking part in fund raising events such as this, that the much needed funds are raised. The Cadets are expected to help out for at least a couple of hours per day, bearing in mind without these fund raisers there may be no Unit to attend. The Cadets got a brief on safety and how to pack bags (cause there is nothing worse than getting home to find your eggs all cracked and your bread squashed!!) and then they did the Unit proud with their hard work and polite manner to the public.

Over the two days, through donations, the unit raised £864.30 (and a few odd foreign coins), well done and thank you to all who took part and the public that were kind enough to donate at Christmas.

Ships visit to RFA Black Rover (Our affiliated ship) (20/12/11)

7 Cadets and 3 staff enjoyed a visit to our affiliated ship RFA Black Rover 20th December 2011. The day started early, leaving the unit at 0600 hrs to head to Portland, Dorset. On arrival at 1100, the cadets enjoyed a tour of the ship and update on what she has been doing in the past year. After a bite for lunch, the cadets and staff went around the different departments. The most popular activity onboard was the ships weaponry, where the cadets were shown how they work and what they are used for, under the supervision of the Point Defence Officer.  Having spent the day onboard, the cadets headed homeward for the long journey back to the unit.

All the cadets and staff had a full and fun packed day learning the ships role within the fleet, and hearing stories about how those onboard cope with the long trips at sea and what role they have in keeping RFA Black Rover operating. It was the first of many trips we will have to visit our affiliated ship when she is alongside, and hopefully in the future we will be able to arrange a trip for the cadets to be onboard when she is travelling around the UK waters.

Thanks to the staff who helped arrange and escort the cadets, and to those cadets who attended, we hope you learned more about the role the Royal Fleet Auxiliary play in supplying the Royal Navy as RFA Black Rover is a Small Fleet Tanker.

For more pictures, visit our Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/BexleyLewishamSCC

For more information about Royal Fleet Auxiliary and RFA Black Rover please visit - 
http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/The-Fleet/Royal-Fleet-Auxiliary/Tankers/RFA-Black-Rover

Presentation Night (13/12/11)

The annual Awards evening took place 13^th of December 2011. The Cadets attended in their No 1(Best) uniform for the presentations, and it was good to see they all made the effort to turn up ‘spick & span’.

Well done to all those who won an award, and for those who didn't, hopefully it will inspire you to do well, gain further qualifications and set a goal to aim for at next years Award Ceremony.

It was not just the Cadets who had reason to celebrate and thank the Unit for their awards. One of the invited guests was Commodore Peter Jeary of the City Livery Yacht Club, who presented the Unit with two cheques totalling £200.

Bexley & Lewisham Sea Cadets would like to formally thank the Yacht Club for their very generous donation, and hopefully they will approve of the use of the funds they donated, as it will part fund 2 Cadets to join the Sea Cadet Corps flagship, TS Royalist which is a twin mast square rigged sailing ship.

(A picture will be added soon!)

New Unit website

Welcome to our new look website. It has been redesigned as part of the Sea Cadets image refresh and we hope you enjoy navigating it. Take a look and round and see what you think!

Please bear with us as we add information and news.