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Sea Cadets' 2019 awards have been released!

The awards are for the units, cadets and volunteers who have performed admirably throughout 2019. There are lots of winners across the Corps, but highlights include:

Salisbury (pictured) unit took home The Canada Trophy, awarded to Sea Cadets unit which is considered to have attained the very highest standard of all-round efficiency in the previous year. Each volunteer and cadet at Salisbury will receive a medallion to commemorate the event and cadets will also receive a red or gold maple leaf and a year badge, which are to be sewn on to their uniform. Salisbury have excelled at boating in the last year, averaging 145 hours of boating per cadet and all their cadets received at least one boating qualification!

Scarborough won the Thomas Grey Memorial Trophy, in their centenary year. With around 100 cadets and 40 volunteers, the numbers illustrate how popular this unit is within the remote community. Scarborough Cadets lead from the front at the Duke of Edinburgh award events, and always do well at promotion boards, plus many of them achieved CVQO BTEC qualifications this year.

The Commander Brown Trophy was handed to POC Daniel from Weymouth, for outstanding achievement, excelling at Sea Cadets, gaining multiple qualifications over the year and conquering his DofE. POC Daniel works hard at Sea Cadets to ensure he picks up qualifications, already having DofE Bronze and Silver awards and is working towards his Gold. He also holds British Rowing Supervised Coxswain, Basic Navigation, RYA Watchleader (Power-24m TS John Jerwood/TS Jack Petchey) Meteorology Proficiency, Basic Piping and Intermediate Seamanship, Advanced Stewarding, and Basic CIS.

Captain Rodie Casement Sword was awarded to Lt (SCC) William Elliott RNR from Milford Haven Unit. William embraces and embodies the Core Values and his drive to inspire these in his cadets is infectious. His commitment to the Corps is tireless endless, attending the unit despite other calls on his time.

Sea Cadets played a full part in welcoming the Royal Navy’s largest warship to the Fleet in Portsmouth.

As part of 2,000 invited guests and in the presence of His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall as Lady Sponsor, the cadets helped support the commissioning of HMS Prince of Wales in a rousing ceremony in Portsmouth.

Commanding Officer, Captain Darren Houston, read the commissioning warrant to the ship’s company and guests gathered in the hangar, with the First Sea Lord, Admiral Tony Radakin as well as Marine Society and Sea Cadets President Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope GCB OBE DL and CEO Martin Coles.

The First Sea Lord’s Sea Cadets plus members of Greenwich Sea Cadets were in attendance to give the invited guests a glimpse of the long-standing relationship between the Royal Navy and Sea Cadets.

The First Sea Lord’s Sea Cadets aged 16 to 17, are picked, from each area to represent the Sea Cadets at many different events.  They also play a crucial role in shaping the future of Sea Cadets as the voice of the cadets.

The cadets act as escort to Navy Board members or other senior Royal Navy officers at appropriate functions such as formal parades, ship visits and presentations.

How my time spent as a Sea Cadet has shaped my career leading a large team. Read Claire’s story.

Claire was a member of TS Queen Charlotte, Guildford Sea Cadets. As a cadet Claire achieved national success in kayaking and demonstrated a high degree of commitment and determination to pursuing the sport. She won seven national gold medals in total.

In life since, Claire has shown that same determination and commitment in her pursuit of professional development. Sea Cadets was instrumental to Claire starting her career in PR. At the time when she applied for the first job, she was down to the final two candidates and the other individual had a degree in PR. However, it was Claire who was successful in getting the job. The employers acknowledged her skills and experience as a cadet made her the more favourable candidate.

At interview Claire was asked to do a presentation on a topic of her choice and she spoke about the Sea Cadets which landed her the job. She was able to demonstrate transferrable skills through her activities supporting younger cadets and her voluntary charitable work through the cadets.

Claire continues to work in PR and now manages a large team of people in her work. She can still see the benefit of Sea Cadets in her daily professional life. Her ability to lead, take control and even project her voice were all developed during her time as a cadet on the parade ground. Claire can see how Sea Cadets gave her the practical communication skills that she uses every day to manage her team and get the job done. It’s amazing to hear her time as a PO cadet still influences her every day work.

Martin’s early years at Sea Cadets set him up with an international seafaring career, now he gives back whenever he can.

There are many mariners and seafarers who used to be in the Sea Cadets and there are countless inspirational stories. One that caught our eye is Martin’s story. He’s a young man from Wales who has been in seafaring work almost all his professional life. Even though he is only in his early 30s he’s had impressive career opportunities open up from the seamanship skills he learnt as a cadet.

Martin was a cadet at both Rugby and Fishguard Sea Cadets. He was an active cadet and continued on as an adult officer for a number of years. Becoming really well rounded in all the different skills that cadets offers.

These skills enabled Martin to get his first job teaching watersports, a skill he learnt as a cadet and instructor. After that he went on to have diverse range of seafaring jobs. He worked for the Environment Agency on a coastal survey boat gaining the rank of relief master. Crewed a 3,000 tonne superyacht around the Mediterranean. Worked on search and rescue operations in disaster zones. He has even been a commercial diver, helping to shoot a film working on a film set in China.

Martin now works as a commercial master on the boats for an offshore windfarm and continues to use the skills he first learnt as a cadet.

In his spare time, Martin is a longstanding volunteer with the RNLI. He joined as soon as he was old enough and continues to support their work whenever he is back on shore.

As well as the wide range of experiences professionally that were opened up by the Sea Cadets, the influence of the cadets is also evident in his personal character. Someone like Martin represents the generosity of spirit and commitment to others that runs through so many of the Sea Cadets staff, volunteers and cadets. There is an enthusiasm for doing your bit and helping others, in particular to this case, to stay safe at sea.

An adventure she could have never had in Tottenham, read Linda’s story 

The Girls Nautical Training Corps (GNTC) was invaluable for Linda, a young woman growing up as a Tottenham ‘latchkey kid’. Her experiences as a cadet at TS Wizard meant that she had access to opportunities that her social circumstances would have never ordinarily have allowed.

In particular, Linda reflects on the inspirational role of the women who led the GNTC. She recalls hiking and being in the countryside and taking on adventures that took her out of the city environment and exposed her to a whole other world of possibilities.

One key influence of the cadets on Linda’s life was learning to play the drums as part of the cadet band. This was a skill she continued in adult life and enable her to travel to many new places. Linda went on to become a professional drummer and toured Europe playing music.

Later in life Linda went on to become a civil servant working in local government, in particular, in health and safety. At the time, this remained a male dominated profession and she was a pioneering woman to be present in that role. Looking back, Linda can see how her experiences in the GNTC gave her confidence and the ability to stand up for herself and take the lead even in situations, even when stacked against her.

Now, Linda works in conservation and nature management for a national park and area of natural beauty. She uses her water skills from cadets as she kayaks around the waterways overseeing the wildlife. Rekindling her love of nature and the outdoors, first discovered in the GNTC as a teenager.