Northampton

Northampton and Rushden Sea Cadets awarded the Captains Cup for 2011!

This month the unit has completed its bi-annual efficiency inspection with the Royal Navy Parade where the unit hosted the Captain of the Sea Cadets, Captain Mark Windsor Royal Navy.  Weeks of effort to make sure that ships company and the unit was ship shaped and Bristol fashion paid off as the unit has received an astounding 93% score and a glowing report!

Now firmly settled, the Chairman leads a strong Unit Management Committee (UMC) and they have recently successfully negotiated a 99 year lease for the Unit. With that in place and within the Unit long term framework strategy, planning permission is being sought for an extension to the current building and active fundraising is on-going to support and improve the facilities. As part of the new marina alongside the Unit, grounds and slipways are also being extended / improved. The Rusden satellite remains in RFCA premises and the UMC are currently looking at the satellite development. There is a large Instructional Staff with a wide range of qualifications including the ability to teach all of the waterborne disciplines; indeed the Unit is an Royal Yachting Association Training Centre, affiliated to British Rowing and is the first Unit within the Area to award the new fixed seat rowing qualifications. Additionally, the Unit operates the OnBoard scheme teaching youngsters to sail in conjunction with three local schools. There is a good Staff development plan in place and a smooth handover is in operation for the Commanding Officer to stand down (becoming District Officer) in the spring. Cadets are certainly getting the cadet experience at Northampton and Wellingborough; the unit is over capacity but being carefully managed so that more cadets gain opportunities. With over 6,000 cadet  hours on the water many qualifications are being gained and cadets are achieving success at District, Area and National competitions. Cadets have been offshore and at National centres and activity levels exceeded in all areas.

Because of the initiative of the unit volunteers, cadets have also had the opportunity to visit both Royal Navy and US Navy major warships. External qualifications (Btecs) are being gained and the Unit has the Mayors and Lord Lieutenants Cadets; POC Jolly was also the 2011 recipient of the Commander Brown National Award. The relatively new RMCD is gaining in stature and are looking forward to their first SRMO Inspection. Furthermore, the large Junior Section is fully engaged in all Unit activities. Very active in the community, they also support many other charities and N&W has been granted the Freedom of the Borough highlighting the esteem with which the unit is held locally. Another outstanding performance by a Unit that continually sets the pace in Eastern Area and the award of a Burgee is totally deserved.

The Captains report also added the following:-

TS Laforey is a shining example of what can be achieved through teamwork, dedication to the cause and focused and unswerving commitment. The Unit consistently excels across the broadest spectrum of experiences and activities that can be delivered. Furthermore, I was extremely pleased to be able to visit again for your Royal Navy Parade and to present National trophies in addition to awarding 3 Captains Medals for 50 years service to the Corps. Excellent work from a superlative Unit. Bravo Zulu!

The evening saw the 107 Sea Cadets from Wellingborough, Rushden and Northampton converged at the county unit headquarters in Northampton to demonstrate their skills in ceremonial, waterborne and shore based training.  The evening started with an inspection of the cadets on a cramped main deck where the Mayors of Northampton, Rushden and Wellingborough joined the Captain and other guests in talking to the cadets about their activities.  The cadets then demonstrated what activities they enjoy in the Corps with a demonstration from the Royal Marines Cadets of a field exercise and the Sea Cadets of boating, including Cadet Tidbury pictured sporting a hat to keep him warm!!  Despite the minus six temperatures the event still carried on and evolutions were even conducted outside!

The evening ended with Councillor Roger Conroy, Deputy Mayor of Northampton presenting 17 year old Leading Cadet Marium Hashmi with the annual Mayors Cadet Award.  This is awarded to the top Sea Cadet in Northampton who represents the Sea Cadets Corps in the local Borough.  Also the Captain awarded 50 year service medals to Mr Robin Guinness, Mr Richard Jones and Mr Ernie Shoebridge, between them they have given 150 years of support to the unit through the recent years of success as well as periods of challenge such as the rebuild after the 1998 flooding of Northampton.  The Commanding Officer said “without the support of the Unit Management Committee to give us the infrastructure to develop our young people we would not be able to achieve the results we do today.”

Also the Captain presented the Commander Brown Award to Petty Officer Cadet Lara Jolley. The Commander Brown Award was presented by Mrs J Hunter-Gray to commemorate her brother, Commander C P F Brown DSC* RN, who died as a result of a road traffic accident. The award consists of a Shield inscribed with the winners' names. The award is made annually to the cadet, who been actively involved in the Duke of Edinburgh Award and has been a leader in sail training activities. Petty Officer Cadet Lara Jolley has been a member of Northampton and Wellingborough Sea Cadet unit for over seven years, joining as a Junior Sea Cadet in July 2004.  During her time with us Lara has become an able and effective senior cadet within TS Laforey and Eastern Area.  Completing her Bronze and Silver award Lara was one of the first cadets to participate in a sailing expedition, which was the first to be hosted by SCTC Caledonia.  The objective for her expedition was to research the various islands and how they were affected by the Second World War fortifications.  Working closely with her team, she set sail in an ASC and piloted the boat between the various islands stopping at each to study them.  One obstacle that Lara had to overcome was camping on an island with no facilities!  As well as achieving her Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award, Lara is no actively pursuing the gold award and has achieved a Distinction Star Grade the Btec National Diploma in Public Services in the Sea Cadets Corps.  Lara is a natural leader and is comfortable teaching watersports in the Sea cadet Corps or at the local commercial centre, Pitsford Watersports where she has gained employment through her Sea cadet qualifications.  Furthermore, in the 2010 season Lara supported the local Boat Station in teaching cadets from units across Eastern Area during a six week period.

The unit received the attached thank you letters from families of service personnel in rehabilitation centres who received the units 40 Christmas Boxes that were dispatched as part of Operation Shoebox to SSAFFA (Soldiers Sailors and Air Force Families Association). The unit is very pleased to support this initiative driven by Petty Officer Susan Telford and a certificate of thanks was presented to the unit by Colonel John Royle MBE DL which was presented to Cadet Casey Brown.  The following evening the cadets took advantage of the snow to build a unit snowman, however “Cadet I.A.M. Frosty” was not on board for long!!  The unit is now looking forward to the Freedom of the Borough Parade and the below dates are for the parents and cadets diaries:-

All queries, questions or bookings on the above activities can be answered in the ships offices at Rushden or Northampton.

Northampton and Rushden Sea Cadets march into 2012

The Sea Cadets from Northampton and Rushden have returned after the Christmas break to a number of successes.  Firstly,  the unit received thank you letters from front line service personnel who received the units 20 Christmas Boxes that were dispatched to SSAFFA care homes in Birmingham as part of the annual shoebox appeal.  

At the end of January 23 Sea Cadets and Royal Marine’s Cadets represented  the County at the Regional Ceremonial Drill and Piping Competition.  Pulses were racing, and boots were shinning as Sea Cadets from as far as Hertfordshire and Yorkshire met at Newark Showground to compete in the annual competition.  The weeks of practice showed as cadets worked as a team of 13 cadets demonstrating complex drill movements with arms.  The cadets displayed high precision drill to the judges and the watching crowd, showing standards, which would not have been out of place at Horse guards.   Northampton and Rushden Sea Cadets won the competition for the eighth consecutive year. The winning trophy was presented by the Commodore of the Air Cadets who was invited to present the awards.  As well as wining the armed guard event the unit also won Best Guard Commander and Petty Officer Cadet Lara Jolley was awarded the trophy for outstanding ceremonial leadership.  Additionally, 16 year old Petty Officer Cadet Joe Barley was awarded the top position for the piping competition where he had to demonstrate the use of the traditional Boatswains Call.  Plus for the first time ever the units ceremonial piping team won their event.  The units Royal Marines Cadets were at the competition for the first time with a six man guard, achieving a seventh place in their competition.  This year 16 of the units cadets will go through to the National Competition at HMS Raleigh in March.

Lieutenant Read the unit Commanding Officer said that “The competition was extremely close, and standards were very high and we was only just ahead of Scarborough units” He went on to say.  “That it had been a fantastic atmosphere and we all look forward to next year”.

17 year old Petty Officer Cadet Callum Hodgson from Rushden said “I look forward to these events, because you meet up with friends you don’t normally see, it’s been awesome”.  The team will now go on to represent the Eastern region at the National Finals to be held at HMS Raleigh near Plymouth in May.

Other news, the unit heard this week that two of its vessels have been selected to participate in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames in early June this year.  The cadets will man a Trinity 500 rowing boat in the event and also a narrow boat will be making the extremely challenging journey down the Grand Union Canal to participate.  This event is expected to comprise the largest flotilla on the river in modern times with around 700 vessels participating  which is expected to last four hours and to be witnessed by up to a million visitors to London as well as a worldwide television audience.

Tuesday 7^th of February is the night when the unit will be visited by Captain Mark Windsor Royal Navy, Captain of the Sea Cadets who will present the Captains Cup for 2011 to the unit; as well as recognise three of our volunteers who have competed 50 years service with the unit.  Mr Richard Jones, Mr Ernest Shoebridge and Mr Robin Guinness have all been instrumental members of the unit since the 1950’s and indeed Mr Guinness and Mr Jones are former Chairman of the Unit Management Committee and have supported the unit in its development over a great many years.  The unit Commanding Officer said “the strength of the Sea Cadets is the variety of activities and opportunities we offer the young people, having a strong Royal Marines Cadet detachment and Junior Sea Cadet section enables us to proudly offer the largest range of adventurous youth training activities to young people of all abilities from 10 to 18 years.  However none of this would be possible without the hard work behind the scenes from the unit management committee who provide the resources for our young people to succeed and to have our three most enthusiastic volunteers recognised by the Captains Medal for 50 years volunteer service is a great moment of pride for all at TS Laforey.”

Northampton and Wellingborough Sea Cadets has been recognised once gain amongst the top Sea Cadet units!

Northampton and Wellingborough Sea Cadets have had a busy and successful year with December 2011 being no exception.  The unit ended on an extreme high after we were awarded the Captains Cup; in the Canada Trophy Competition for the top UK Sea Cadet Unit.   Originally called the Commodore?s Cup and initially presented by Commodore R M Parker Royal Navy, Commodore Sea Cadets 1996-2004, in 1997. It is awarded to the Unit which, having not won either of the top two awards in the Canada Trophy competition nevertheless makes a particular impression on the Captain of the Sea Cadets, Captain Mark Windsor Royal Navy.  Petty Officer Cadet Lara Jolley has also won the National Award for outstanding leadership with the Duke of Edinburgh Award and Offshore Training, the Commander Brown Award.

These outstanding successes has continued with the unit scooping two other Sea Cadet Trophies: The “Ben Line Cup” for the best Cadet Training Participation and the “Sir Gilbert Stephenson Trophy” for achieving 92% efficiency in the previous inspection year which places the unit in the top six units nationally.  These trophies were presented to the unit by Captain of the Sea Cadets at the Eastern Area Conference.  The Commanding Officer said that these awards “were an outstanding achievement for our unit and the District of Northamptonshire and Leicestershire units who won the Navy League trophy for being the best District of units.  The awards show that the units through teamwork locally are competing at the highest levels, with our inland cadets achieving better than cadets in units often based in nearer to the coastline, the Royal Navy and its facilities, it speaks volumes for what we offer to our young people in Northamptonshire!”

The festive local fundraising effort continued in partnership with SSAFFA Forces Help with the unit providing 20 shoe boxes filled with gifts to be sent to the families of our troops in Afghanistan in care homes over the Christmas Period.  Petty Officer Sue Telford, was the brains behind the operation and working in partnership with the local community and the sea cadets she managed to assemble the 20 boxes.  The destination for these shoe boxes are the three SSAFFA care homes which support the families of service personnel over the Christmas period.  Also the unit raised the cash sum of £120 towards this worthy cause.  If there are further unwanted gifts after the Christmas period we will be collecting these for the homes after Christmas so please send them into the unit.

Northampton and Wellingborough Sea Cadets enjoyed an end of year fun weekend where 30 of the cadets went wobbling around Milton Keynes Ice Skating Rink, although they did not perform as "Torville and Dean", the cadets young and old alike thoroughly enjoyed the winter experience whilst witnessing the unit staff brave the ice!  During the same weekend the two unit girls teams competed in the regional finals of the five-a-side football competition at RAF Cranwell, In a thrilling final against the Hertfordshire Junior Girls team the Junior Girls from Northampton were only beaten in a sudden death penalty shootout after a match deadlock was reached with a 2-2 score after extra time.

The final competition of the year was the Northamptonshire and Leicestershire county drill competition which was hosted by Training Ship Tiger, Leicester Sea Cadets.  The piping teams and an armed drill team from Northampton and Wellingborough won this first round of the competition and will compete against the best teams from all of the counties in the Eastern Region in the New Year.  This will be the third year that Petty Officer Cadet Barley has represented the county at the Area Competition and he is hoping to improve on his 12 placing Nationally in 2011.

This month saw the launch of the major funding appeal at Northampton as you are probably aware that the current shower and toilet block is too small for the membership of approximately 100 cadets. We need to expand these facilities to be able to other young people further opportunity in Canoeing, Sailing and Windsurfing.  It is also required that we improve the facilities to store boats and other equipment so that we can increase the participation afloat.

The facilities are used by Sea Cadets on at least three evenings a week and weekends and local schools working in partnership as part of the RYA OnBoard program to increase sailing activity as a sport and healthy life style.

Northampton and Wellingborough Sea Cadets Visit from the Royal Canadian Navy

Northampton and Wellingborough Sea Cadets have had a busy month conducting “serious fun” training activities.  The month began with the units Bonfire and Fireworks evening raising £300 for the replacement of unit boats and purchase of a new Trinity 500.  Both parents and cadets alike enjoyed the Friday evening at the unit Headquarters the usual guys were built and carved pumpkins were burnt on the units bonfire with all due ceremony. 

After a week of helping the Royal British Legion raise funds for the annual poppy appeal to hit last year’s target of £110K in which the Sea Cadets raised over £1,600, the cadets were also represented at the usual annual Remembrance Parades.   At the Morrison’s Cattle Market site the Sea Cadets have raised £1,013 alone for the 2011 Poppy Appeal! In total 106 Sea and Marine Cadets and 23 Instructors from TS Laforey paraded across Northamptonshire with cadets being present at the Northampton and Rushden services. The Sea Cadets and Royal Marines Cadets joined cadets from the Army and Air Cadets and other local organisations to parade through their home towns and Petty Officer Cadet Lara Jolley aged 17 proudly wore her grandfathers medals on parade.  She said "it was an honour to be on parade and remember the commitment made by my grandfather all of those years ago".   This was one of many events that Petty Officer Cadet Jolley accompanied the Mayor as the Mayors Cadet.  Northants TV clip shows the cadets marching past as part of its remembrance parade footage:-

http://www.tvnorthants.co.uk/

Meanwhile in Rushden the cadets of the satellite unit hosted the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire; Colonel John Royle MBE DL; Colonel Royle the Mayors of Wellingborough, Rushden and Higham Ferrers to tour the unit and meet the cadets, during his visit to Rushden he will award the annual prizes to the cadets.  The Rushden Cadets are actively collecting suppliers for over 40 shoeboxes of goodies that will be sent to SSAFFA to support our troops and their families in recovery over the Christmas Period, these gifts will be sent off shortly with best wishes from the Cadets.

During the month the unit was grateful for the kind donations of grant support from the Rotary Club towards the purchase of equipment that the cadets rely upon for their fun activities.

As well as the ceremonial events the month was still busy with productive cadet training with cadets attending training weekends locally and five cadets attended and passed the Petty Officer Cadets and Leading Cadets advancement board alongside their colleges from the other Northants and Leicestershire Sea Cadet Units.  Rushden Sea Cadets have now two Petty Officer cadets, the first ever appointed at Rushden.  Petty Officer Cadets Callum Hodgson and Kirsty Woolley were promoted Friday along with Leading Cadet Oliver Lane.  At Northampton new Petty Officer Cadets Joseph Barley and Laura Parker were promoted along with Leading Cadets Maryam Hashmi and Mathew Martin by Captain Harry Harsch OMM CD from the Royal Canadian Navy, Naval Advisor to Britain.

Captain Harsh visited the Sea Cadets at Northampton to present a Bravo Zulu Certificate of recognition from the Royal Canadian Navy in recognition of the achievement of being recognised as the Leading Sea Cadet Unit in The UK for 2010.  The Certificate was presented to the cadets as Captain Harsch visited both the Rushden and Northampton Sites to meet the cadets and experience UK Sea Cadets.  Captain Harsch himself a former Canadian Sea Cadet spent time talking and meeting the cadets and presented Canada Trophy medals top cadets and volunteers that missed Admiral Alabasters presentation earlier in the year.  The unit commanding officer said “it is deeply humbling and we are proud that the Royal Canadian Navy has presented this certificate of recognition that we will proudly display in our unit headquarters for cadets to see for many years to come.  We hope we can stay in touch and keep the Canadian link with our units strong for the future.” Captain Harsh said of his visit that he “was deeply impressed at the enthusiasm of the cadets as well as the calibre of the cadre of officers, senior rates and civilian instructors -not to mention the keen involvement of so many of the parents!”

The cadets are now looking forward to representing Northamptonshire in the Regional level of the football competition this weekend to be held at RAF Cranwell.  This event will be closely followed by the end of year Carol Service and Discos which will draw a close to another successful year of activities.  Forthcoming events for the diary are:-

• Unit Fun Weekend and Area 5-a-Side – Saturday 3^rd to Sunday 4^th December
• Divisions, Number One Uniforms – Tuesday 6^th December
• Last Night at Unit HQ and Cadet Christmas Dinner – Friday 9^th December
• District Ceremonial Drill and Piping Competition – Saturday 10^th to Sunday 11^th December
• Unit Carol Service at Duke Street Church – Tuesday 13^th December
• Cadet Christmas Disco at RN & RM Club, Lorne Road – Friday 16^th December
• Unit reopens for 2012 and Divisions, Number One Uniforms – Tuesday 3^rd January
• Area Ceremonial Drill and Piping Competition - Friday 27th January to Sunday 29th January
• Unit Annual Inspection – Tuesday 7^th February
• Ceremonial Training Weekend – Saturday 17^th  to Sunday 18th March
• Freedom of the Borough and HMS Laforey Parade – Saturday 24 to Sunday 25^th March

Busy October for the Northampton and Rushden Sea Cadets

The Northampton and Wellingborough Sea Cadet Unit has had a very busy October.  The units cadets participated in a number of parades to commemorate Nelsons victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.  Over 150 cadets marched through the streets of Kettering led by the Sea Cadet Band from Kettering and the Royal Marines Cadet Armed Guard.  The salute was taken by the Captain Barnwell Royal Navy, who complemented the cadets taking part in the extremely high standard of ceremonial.

Also the unit had the honour of providing nine cadets to the central parade held on Trafalgar Square, London to celebrate the 206th national Trafalgar Day. The cadets were inspected by Royal Marines, Major General Buster Howes OBE and Captain Mark Windsor RN, Captain Sea Cadet Corps.

Blessed with unseasonably good weather, the crowds turned out in good numbers and our cadets did us proud as ever. The Northampton and Rushden cadets had the honour of being the wreath layers at the events and the Captain of the Sea Cadets, Captain Mark Windsor Royal Navy said a big well done (Bravo Zulu) to all concerned on another wonderful tribute to Admiral Lord Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar and a fantastic showcase for all that is great about the Sea Cadet Corps!

As well as the ceremonial parades five Northampton Cadets participated in an St Johns Activity First Aid Course held at the unit and all passed with flying colours, also a number of cadets assisted the Royal British Legion Black Dyke concert fundraising for the Royal British Legion Annual Poppy Appeal.  The cadets helped with the collection and paraded the Sea Cadet Standard at this event alongside the Royal British Legion veterans.

The month ended with the cadets being held hostage by a rather scary bunch of ghouls, goblins and ghosts as the unit was haunted for the annual Halloween party where all participated in a number of fun games to round off a busy month.

Forthcoming events for the diary are:

• Saturday 5^th November – Swimming Session and Swimming tests for new cadets.
• Sunday 6^th and Saturday 12 November – Poppy Appeal support to the Royal British Legion at Morrison’s supermarket.
• Friday 4^th November – Unit Bonfire evening, no uniform for cadets parents and friends welcome for the bonfire and fireworks at the Northampton HQ.  Please bring a donation for the raffle.
• Sunday 13^th November – Annual Remembrance Parade at Northampton / Rushden, this is a compulsory parade for all cadets.  A weekend training at Northampton is available for interested cadets.
• Saturday 19^th to Sunday 20^th November – Leading Cadet and Petty Officer Cadet Advancement Weekend at TS Tiger, Leicester.
• Friday 25^th November – Open Evening and Prize Giving at Rushden, parents and guests are very welcome to come along on this evening to see what the Rushden Cadets get up to.
• Saturday 3^rd to Sunday 4^th December – Unit Fun Weekend where the cadets will go swimming and ice skating.  Joining instructions available at the unit
• Sunday 4^th December – Area 5-a-side competition for our successful girls teams to compete in the regional finals
• Sunday 11^th December – District Ceremonial Drill and Piping Competition
• Tuesday 13^th December- Unit Carol Service at Duke Street Church
• Friday 15^th December – Cadet Disco at RN & RM Club, Lorne Road and last meeting before Christmas.

If there are any queries please come in to the ships office to see either Mrs Rickard (Northampton) or Mr Weight (Rushden).

First appointment for Rushden Sea Cadets during an exciting month for Northampton and Wellingborough Sea Cadets

It was with pleasure that Leading Cadet Callum Hodgson attended Newbottle Manor on Tuesday of this week to formally receive his appointed as the first Lord Lieutenants cadet for Northamptonshire which is a land mark as this is a first for the new satellite division at Rushden.  Callum joined the sea cadets in 2005 when the new unit started in Wellingborough,  he has worked his way up through the ranks gaining the qualification as an RYA Dinghy Instructor and numerous other awards.  After Wellingborough Unit found its current home in Rushden, the unit continued to grow and Callum was the first cadet in the unit to achieve Leading cadet; Later he was appointed as the Mayor of Rushden’s cadet for the last Mayoral term.  Callum is attending his Petty Officer Cadet Board next month and his selection for this prestigious achievement is yet another landmark for the unit and we wish Callum every luck in his appointment.

The Northampton and Rushden cadets have also come together once again to compete at the District 5-a-Side Competition, both the senior Girls and Junior Girls teams won their events facing stiff competition from Hinckley, Loughborough and Kettering.  The boys teams were beaten back into the runner up position.  However, the youngest cadets persevered and won their event despite a thrilling series of matches, one of which, resulted in a draw.  All of the cadets thoroughly enjoyed the event and showed good sportsmanship and team work throughout the competition.

On the water the boating season ended with two cadets who will be competing in the National Windsurfing Finals at Southport and a unit sailing weekend at Thrapston which the cadets thoroughly enjoyed.  Cadets took advantage of the excellent weather in early October to take to the water for the last time this season gaining plenty of experience and qualifications in powerboating and dinghy sailing.  On land, six cadets have been busy fundraising by participating in a sponsored cycle ride, in which the cadets raised over £200 by cycling the eight miles to Stoke Bruene along the canal and river system from Northampton.  Whilst in Stoke Bruene the cadets were greeted by the festivities as the village dressed up for their village at war celebration.  Even the unit mascot, quacky the duck enjoyed the journey!

Earlier in the month the unit participated in the Expedition Challenge against the Regional Sea Cadet units hosted in Mansfield.  The Senior Team of Four Cadets achieved a runner up placing and Leading Cadet Patrick Green was awarded the trophy for best expedition leader of the year.  The four cadets in the team walked over 12 miles around the Nottinghamshire course where they were tested in their skills in the field, including cooking, first aid and mapwork.  The Junior Team, a new team led by Ordinary Cadet David Martin also took part in the competition completing the course and learning plenty during the weekend.

Forthcoming events for the diary are:-

• Friday 14^th to Sunday 16^th October – Royal Marines Cadets Training Weekend at Northampton and National Sailing at Southport.
• Sunday 23 October – Trafalgar parade at Kettering, Best Uniforms for this important annual parade, an optional training weekend is available for interested cadets.
• Sunday 23^rd to Tuesday 25^th October – St Johns Activity First Aid and Seamanship 2^nd Class Course at Northampton during the half term holiday for Sea Cadets and Royal Marine Cadets.
• Friday 28 October - Cadets Halloween Evening, Fancy dress can be worn for an evening of games, Rushden are at Northampton.
• Friday 4^th November – Unit Bonfire evening, no uniform for cadets parents and friends welcome for the bonfire and fireworks at the Northampton HQ.
• Sunday 13^th November – Annual Remembrance Parade at Northampton / Rushden, this is a compulsory parade for all cadets.  A weekend training at Northampton is available for interested cadets.
• Friday 25^th November – Open Evening and Prize Giving at Rushden, parents and guests are very welcome to come along on this evening to see what the Rushden Cadets get up to.

If there are any enquires please see the web site www.northamptonseacadets.org or come in to the ships office to see either Mrs Rickard (Northampton) or Mr Weight (Rushden).

Northampton and Rushden Sea Cadets training pays off at National Finals

A busy summer of afloat training locally at Thrapston and Northampton, also at Sea Cadet Corps training centres has paid dividends at the National Boating Finals held last weekend.

This summer cadets have been on  a number of camps afloat in the Firth of Forth and Portsmouth Harbour sharpening their afloat skills.  20 Cadets enjoyed the camp at the Scottish Naval Base HMS Caledonia and the mix of fun ashore and afloat was enjoyed by all who participated.  The Cadets gained qualifications in power boating, sailing and windsurfing at the RYA Training Centre and enjoyed adventurous activities at the local Scout Adventure Centre.  This included the “King Swing” which even the Commanding Officer went on (with eyes tight shut!)  The highlight of the week was that three cadets were able to plan and sail their Dinghy to Inchcombe Island as part of their Day Sailing Qualification, which is a difficult qualification to achieve as only a few venues offer the course.

As well as the adventure in small dinghies, four cadets attended offshore training with the Rebel Trust.  The five days training cruise on the east coast aboard the yacht TS Leopold Muller was a challenging voyage for the new cadets but all gained valuable sea experience.  This was also true of three cadets who spent a week in the Sea Cadet Tall Ship, TS Royalist.  All visited coastal ports and worked all parts of the ship.

Whilst the Sea Cadets focus was afloat, our Royal Marine Cadets focused their efforts ashore by attending their summer camp and field exercise in Lincolnshire.  They had to simulate arduous conditions sleeping our under the stars for a number of nights and working together as a team.  Although tired, the cadets thoroughly enjoyed the weeks training and came back ready for the challenge of night training.

The month ended with the cadets competing at the national boatwork finals held at the Excel Centre London, the boys rowing crew came 3^rd taking away bronze medals, only being beaten by the Southern Area and South West Teams.  Leading Cadet Patrick Green won Gold in the Canoeing and the Sail Boat Handling Crew led by Petty Officer Cadet Lara Jolley achieved bronze medals.  These awards as well as being presented by the Captain of the Sea Cadets, Captain Mark Windsor RN at the event were also presented at the Annual Awards evening Friday.  This evening was also the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and the presentation from the evening is attached.

At the annual awards evening the Deputy Area Officer, Commander Stuart Watt said "the success at TS Laforey is down to hardwork and visible teamwork, he went on to congratulate the cadets, instructors and supporting volunteers who do so much for the local young people.”  He also went onto to say that the fact that “the unit is being granted freedom of the borough is reflection of the appreciation the local community has for all at Training Ship Laforey". The Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Chris Read said “that recognising the cadets is very important and the presentation of the Leadership Award to Leading Cadet Bradley Hughes shows the enthusiasm that our young people bring to the community and the assistance the Sea Cadet Corps gives in helping our young people to responsible adulthood.”  Bradley attended officer training course during the summer holidays at the Premier Officer Training facility for the Royal Navy in Dartmouth and is positioned well for a future naval career.  The local Royal Marines Association (RMA) also presented the “Markie Trophy” to the unit named after the RMA President Eric Markie who passed away this year.  This award is to be presented annually to the top Royal Marine Cadet was given to Marine Cadet Thomas Bryant who is proud to be the first participant. His reward will be to lay the wreath on Trafalgar Square latter this year during the National Trafalgar Parade along with seven other handpicked cadets from Northampton and Rushden.

Sea Cadets enjoy a very busy summer of activities

The Northampton and Wellingborough Sea Cadet unit has been busy in competition season as they have achieved impressive results in the Eastern Area Combined Regatta where the open boys crew won their event and junior girls crews gained a very respectable second place in their event in the new Trinity Boat.  Further events included the Sailboat handling; again winning their event!  Leading Cadet Patrick Green won two classes in the Paddlesport Competition: the Marathon and Relays.  This year the effort in active afloat sports means that the unit will be taking eight cadets to the national finals in London in September, this speaks volumes for the quality of waterborne training achieved locally on the River Nene, and is keeping our local young people very active in watersports.

The unit continues to remains very busy throughout the start of the summer having completed the last of the RYA OnBoard sessions in partnership with three local primary schools, 30 children have learnt to sail with the Sea cadets and we hope some will go onto to increase their sailing skills with local clubs or the Sea Cadets.  It is hoped that many of these pupils will go onto join the Sea Cadets.

Recently, ten Rushden and Northampton Sea and Marine Cadets travelled south to Portsmouth and stayed on the Destroyer HMS Bristol for the week  as part of the Eastern Area Summer camp.  The cadets took part in many different activities including sailing, power and rowing plus shore based activities such as seamanship, cooks steward, marine engineering and first aid. They had a great opportunity to make new friends and experience new things living in a real ship with the Royal Navy.  During the week the Rushden Sea Cadets visited their name sake ships HMS Diamond,  the newest of the Royal Navy’s Type 45 Destroyers as HMS Diamond was only accepted into service last month!  Cadets took part in a fire fighting exercise and explored the operations room and bridge.  The cadets were impressed with the ship and are looking forward to a return visit in the future. 

The unit remained open and took advantage of many different opportunities to work with the local community.  From our Rushden division, Cadets supported the Rushden Mayor on various fundraising activities including the Party in the Park and the Wellingborough Carnival.  In Northampton, the cadets supported the Rotary Club Dragon Boat festival raising £400 for good causes.  The cadets provided the only youth team in the competition rowing against 35 other adult crews, despite being beaten by the adult teams the cadets enjoyed the day and keenly competed.  Most recently, last weekend, the Sea Cadets also demonstrated their skills afloat at the Northampton River festival by demonstrating dry and wet dinghy capsizes and rescue techniques in the rowing and powerboats to a crowd of enthusiastic onlookers.  The unit is now adjoined by the new marina which will open later this year and as construction works draws to completion the unit is looking for opportunities to expand what it does locally.

Northampton and Rushden Sea Cadets are recognised as the Best UK Sea Cadet Unit

The Sea Cadets of Northampton, Rushden and Wellingborough were proud to welcome Admiral Alabaster to their Training Ship this week.  The Admiral visited the unit to present the Sea Cadet Unit with the Canada Trophy for the Best Sea Cadet Unit in the United Kingdom.  The Canada Trophy, first presented to the Sea Cadet Corps in 1948 by the Navy League of Canada, is presented annually to the best Sea Cadet Unit which is judged by the Captain of the Sea Cadets, Captain Mark Windsor Royal Navy.

The unit spent the week getting ready for the presentation and Admiral Alabaster met all of the cadets and witnessed a series of displays demonstrating the skills that the cadets have learnt in their time at the Sea Cadets.

There were also a number of other surprises in store for the cadets of TS Laforey as the Royal British Legion presented a certificate of affiliation in recognition of the partnership between the Royal British Legion and the Sea Cadets over a period of many years.  Each year the Sea Cadets assist the Legion in collecting for the annual poppy appeal and other good causes.

As well as the trophy presentations each cadet received an individual medal from the Admiral, the final surprise and honour was an unexpected announcement by the Mayor of Northampton, Councillor Jamie Lane, that the Sea Cadets will be given the Freedom of the Borough of Northampton.  This honour is only given to a few organisations in the town and was last bestowed on the Northampton Saints Rugby Club.  The Cadets, Volunteers and Supporters of the Sea Cadets in Northampton were amazed that the Borough would recognise the Sea Cadet unit in this way which is believed to be the first time as Sea Cadet Unit has been granted the Freedom of the Borough.  The whole ships company is very much looking forward to the formal presentation of this award.

Details of the press coverage of this event can be found on http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk:80/community/location_no_barrier_as_northampton_sea_cadets_named_best_in_uk_1_2799282

Also this month the cadets have been extremely busy on the water in small boats and big ships!  The big ship was a visit to the American Aircraft Carrier USS George HW Bush when she visited the UK as part of her world deployment.  The newest of the American 90,000 tonne aircraft carriers was too big to moor in Portsmouth so the 20 cadets lucky enough to be selected were taken by boat to the ship for a unique tour of the flight deck, aircraft hangar and bridge.  Cadet Jade Rickard said “The best bit was sitting in the Captain's chair!” All of the cadets were amazed at the size of the ship and whilst spending the day exploring her they compared the huge vessel to the visit to the 20,000 tonne, HMS Ark Royal earlier in the year.

On the small boats the unit competed in the Eastern Area Sailing and Windsurfing Regatta held at Thrapston. A team of nine cadets represented the unit at this competition which involved a series of five races against other units in Eastern Area included Mansfield, Peterborough, Boston, Flitwick, Worksop, Norwich, Loughborough, Hinckley and Scunthorpe.  Cadet Thomas won the windsurfing junior event and will represent the Eastern Area at the National Competition to be held in Southport later this year.

The unit also continued with its OnBoard programme and Abington Vale Primary Schoolwere the second group of young people to be taught to sail using the experienced Northampton Cadets.  The final group start next week from Weston Favell School.

Off of the water, the Wellingborough Cadets were proud to support the Wellingborough Mayors Civic Service held at the Hindu BAPS Mandir Temple in Wellingborough.  The cadets were pleased and interested to be part of this service and honoured to observe the traditions and marks of respect to the Hindu faith by removing their footwear to parade the Sea Cadet standard to the service and dedication.

Sea Cadets enjoy busy month of activities

May has been an extremely active and successful period for the young people and adult volunteers that make up Northampton and Wellingborough Sea Cadet Unit.

The cadets travelled to HMS Raleigh, Plymouth to compete in the National Finals for the Ceremonial Drill Competition. The cadets achieved bronze medals in the National finals being beaten by Southern and South West Areas. The competition held at the premier training base for the Royal Navy was witnessed by the Captain of the Corps, Captain Mark Windsor Royal Navy and was the first national competition held with the new style ceremonial weapons. The cadets had trained hard for the competition and representing the Eastern Area achieved impressive results however they were narrowly piped at the post by the Southern units supported by the naval towns. Also Leading Cadet Joseph Barley competed at the Ceremonial Piping competition at the same event.

On the water the first group of pupils from Standens Barn School have completed their training as part of the RYA OnBoard programme, the RYA and SCC initiative to promote sailing to local young people. Over the last four weeks Sea Cadet and school pupils have learnt to sail and windsurf at the units’ headquarters.

One of the kids commented; “Sailing is wicked - I didn’t think I’d enjoy getting wet but I loved it. The boats go really fast when you catch the wind it’s really cool – much better than being in a sports hall!” Having completed the courses, the kids all went away with an RYA Stage 1 dinghy sailing or windsurfing certificate along with a new skill. As well as aiming at getting kids on the water, the OnBoard programme also looks to convert 10% of participants to regular sailors at local clubs and the training at Northampton Sea Cadets of school pupils is done alongside Sea Cadet members. The Onboard scheme is also having the additional benefit of developing the instructional skills of the older Sea Cadets in the unit with the 15 to 17 year old age group leading the instruction under the supervision of the qualified adult volunteers.

A bit slower the Northampton and Wellingborough Sea Cadets had the pleasure in supporting the Northampton Branch of the Inland Waterways Association last weekend with their annual Narrow boat Rally in Becketts Park, Northampton which was also celebrating the 200th anniversary of the first navigation along the River Nene. The event was attended by over 80 Narrow boats from the local area. The Sea Cadets put on a show of their waterborne skills which included sailing, windsurfing, power boating and rowing races against the narrow boats.

The unit has also hosted the Northamptonshire and Leicestershire Rowing (Pulling) Regatta. Two of the cadet teams won the county competition and are now looking forward to the Regional competition to be held in Nottingham in July. However the Senior Boys team were beaten by TS Venomous, Loughborough Sea Cadets in a tussle for the trophy between Kettering, Hinckley, Loughborough and the Northampton Teams. Rowing the brand new Trinity 500 rowing boats sponsored by Nationwide Building Society down the river the cadets as a test of teamwork the cadets gave their all to achieve impressive results.

As part of the help provided outside of the cadets training the cadets were proud to help at the Brigstocke horse trials where the cadets helped with the arena displays and witnessed the horse displays and activities. The month ended with the Mayor Wellingborough presenting a new trophy for the Wellingborough Cadets to be awarded to the most improved cadet and a donation of £500 towards cadet equipment. The first recipient was Cadet Hayden Walker who over the last year of joining the corps has participated in all activities including the competitions mentioned. The donation from Wellingborough Borough council will be joined to a similar kind presentation from Rushden town council to go towards the purchase of a further rowing boat for the cadets to use under the new British Rowing scheme that the Sea Cadets is now developing.

The next major event for Training Ships Laforey is the presentation of the Canada Trophy for the being the best Sea Cadet unit nationally by Rear Admiral Alabaster, the Royal Navy Flag Officer responsible for Reserve Forces. The presentation will be held on Tuesday 21st June at the Unit Headquarters in Nunns Mills Road, Northampton and all are welcome to attend. The successful ceremonial team will demonstrate their skills that won the competition and the trophies will be represented in front of family and friends. The Cadets will also show their waterborne skills and it is an excellent event for anyone to see what the Sea Cadets are doing to develop the young people to responsible adulthood.