Cadets have returned from a trip to the USA, where they met hundreds of their young American counterparts.

Eleven young people from Birmingham Stirling Unit and five from Tile Cross Academy, which has recently joined the Cadet Expansion Programme and forms the Forward Division of Stirling, made the trip last month.

They joined 300 American cadets from 19 high schools in New England that are part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Army League (COMAL), who come together for a five-day Junior Cadet Leadership Challenge (JCLC) every year.

None of the cadets had been to the USA before, and during the trip they gained self-confidence, personal skills and social skills. With the support of the Ulysses Trust, Pupil Premium funding, and the contribution of funds from Birmingham Stirling Unit, no cadet was excluded on the basis of parental income.

Cadet Hannah said: "When I started on the JCLC I was so scared and homesick I wanted to go home and was crying all the time. When it finished I didn’t want to go home and was crying at having to say goodbye to all my new friends. 

"I have learnt so much. It was the best experience of my life so far."