News

Young people, volunteers, veterans, civic leaders and members of the local community gathered in Coventry on Sunday 10th of October to mark Trafalgar Day with a ceremonial parade organised by Coventry Sea Cadets, the first time that Coventry has hosted the local Trafalgar day parade in over 20 years.

The event commemorated the Battle of Trafalgar, fought on 21 October 1805, and honoured the service and sacrifice of those who have served in the Royal Navy and maritime forces throughout history.

Around 200 Sea Cadets, Royal Marines Cadets and adult volunteers took part in the parade. The procession marched through the city centre to Holy Trinity Church for a commemorative service before continuing the parade to the Cathedral ruins where the parade was formally inspected.

Trafalgar Day remains one of the most significant events in the Sea Cadet calendar, providing an opportunity for cadets to learn about the rich history of the Royal Navy while demonstrating the values of discipline, teamwork, leadership and community service. The organisation of this years parade was spearheaded by Sub Lt Caroline Proctor, Commanding Officer of Coventry Unit who reflected “To see so many of Coventry and Warwickshire’s young people spending their Sunday together, demonstrating their discipline and pride in wearing the uniform of the Royal Navy, is truly humbling. Knowing that these cadets are the future of our city, whatever they choose to do later in life, is simply inspiring.”

Cadets taking part represented a range of ages and experiences, with many having volunteered significant time throughout the year supporting community events, participating in leadership activities and ensuring their drill and uniforms were at the highest standards.

The parade offers cadets the opportunity to showcase the confidence, resilience and teamwork they develop through the Sea Cadets programme. Able Cadet Pahandi shared her highlights, “It was so nice to work as a team to get ready for the parade, and to see all of the families, friends and members of the public who were at the parade and church service too. It really shows how important this type of event is, and gives us as Sea Cadets chance to share what we do best”.

The event also highlighted the ongoing contribution of volunteers, whose dedication enables young people across Coventry to access opportunities in adventure training, boating, community engagement and skills development.

Coventry Sea Cadets would like to thank the other Sea Cadets units in Warwickshire district who attended and supported the parade. We would also like to thank Coventry City Council and Reverend Claire McArthur for facilitating the parade and the service at Holy Trinity respectively.

Coventry Sea Cadets have made the move to Shustoke Reseviour in Warwickshire! 

After a long time with the boating activities based at Draycote Water, we've made the decision to move our activity to waters new and look forward to fresh adventures. 

We've had a universally warm welcome from Shustoke, and have already blown away the cobwebs and made a splash with a mix of rowing, sailing and powerboating. 

It's been a very busy start to the season, with a lot of work going on behind the scences to firstly move all of the boats to their new home, and to make sure that all of our risk assessments and boating methods are up to scratch for the new site- thank you to all staff that worked so hard on this in the background. 

If you haven't had chance to get afloat yet, don't worry! The summer is only just starting. If needed get signed onto a swim test, and keep an eye out on spond for opportunities to get afoat! 

Huge congratulations to our new Petty Officer Cadet Finn, who has successfully passed his promotion board at HMS Raleigh with flying colours. Finn was highly commended by the staff running the board, and was a stand out candidate. 

Finn has been an excellent role model at Coventry Sea Cadets, and we are thrilled that he has now reached the highest rank possible for a cadet, a true reflection of his hard work and committment and demonstration of all of the Sea Cadet values. 

The unit is looking forward to supporting Finn as he continues his devleopment in this leadership role, with a particular focus on his pathway to becomming a rowing instructor! Finn has reflected on his journey so far, "I'm really pleased to have passed my board and to be a PO cadet. I'm excited for my rowing instructor course too as I really enjoy rowing and am looking forwards to taking the next step!" 

Leading Cadet Dylan has been selected as the new Lord Mayor Cadet for Sea Cadets in Coventry. Dylan has been part of Coventry Sea Cadet unit for 4 years, and has been a key player in the Coventry team. This selection as the Lord Mayor Cadet is a proud moment for Dylan, who has reflected “I am extremely delighted to be representing my unit and the Royal Navy within Coventry, and look forward to joining the Lord Mayor on some of their official visits”. Dylan was presented his award on Tuesday 14th of October by Lt Commander (SCC) Steve Warwick, who is the Warwickshire District Officer.

“Each year, the Lord Mayor of Coventry asks all the cadet services in Coventry Cadets to nominate a young person to be a Lord Mayor Cadet. The Lord Mayor's Cadets are representative of all the tri-services and are included in the Ceremonial Planning Group where they can influence and shape the local delivery of Armed Forces Week, Remembrance Sunday etc.”- Armed Forces Covenant – Coventry City Council

SLt (SCC) Caroline Proctor RNR, Officer in Charge of Coventry Unit, said, “We're incredibly proud of Dylan for representing Sea Cadets as part of the wider Coventry community. Supporting the Lord Mayor offers an opportunity for our young people to be involved with our civic leadership and to emphasise the strong links between our landlocked city and the Royal Navy.”

Well done to all of the cadets and staff who attended the Trafalgar Day memorial parade in Tamworth this year. The effort you put into the training session in the morning clearly paid off with how smooth the parade went in the afternoon and how well you worked as a team with the rest of the district. 

Trafalgar Day is an important date in the naval calendar as it recognises the success of the Battle of Trafalgar, which was a huge victory for the British Navy.