LEVIATHAN
Summer Newsletter 2018
Gateshead Sea Cadets
Welcome to our Newsletter which we hope you will find interesting. If you have any comments, you wish to become involved in our work, or assist with funding, then we would love to hear from you.
Contact us: www.facebook.com/Gateshead Sea Cadets
or
www.sea-cadets.org/gateshead
The Unit continues to be very busy in all aspects of Sea Cadet life and we have kept up our record of success in many areas, mainly due to the enthusiasm of our Cadets and the dedication of the training staff, faithfully supported, as always, by parents and guardians of our Cadets.
Unit Re-naming – LEVIATHAN: Mighty Beast of the Sea!
The big event for the Unit so far this year was our re-naming ceremony. Although the Unit name FLAMINGO had served us well for many years, it was felt that the time had come to change the name to reflect the on-going links with our local hero, John William Trotter, Master of HMS LEVIATHAN at the Battle of Trafalgar. As mentioned in previous newsletters, he is buried in St Mary’s churchyard, close to Pipewellgate. His grave wasrefurbished with the aid of our Cadets and the local Royal Naval Association. Each Trafalgar Day a memorial service is held there, led by our cadets and supported by local dignitaries and naval personnel.
The Sea Cadets Association headquarters gave us permission for the name change and it went ahead at a formal ceremony on 16th April.
The new cap tally
The event was memorable for the enthusiasm of the Cadets and their parents and guardians, who turned out in great numbers, but also for the support given by our visiting dignitaries, including: the Mayor Designate of Gateshead, Councillor Jill Green; the Northern Area Officer, Captain Peter Adams; The Master of Trinity House, Captain Stephen Healy; and representatives from HMS CALLIOPE; the Regional MSSC; the Sir James Knott Trust; the Collingwood Society and St Mary’s Heritage Centre. 
The A Team
The Deputy Mayor (now Mayor) of Gateshead Councillor Jill Green cutting the cake
Stop Press: The Mayor of Gateshead Councillor Jill Green has graciously decided to make the Gateshead Sea cadet Unit one of the two beneficiaries of her Mayoral Charities for the coming year. We are very honoured and grateful for this great support.
Burgee
The Unit was again awarded a ‘burgee’ for last year. This award is given for outstanding performance and is presented by the Sea Cadet Organisation after thorough inspection of the Unit. This is the highest level of award that a Unit can achieve and takes account of all aspects of the Unit performance including the training provision and cadets’behaviour. It also includes the management of health and safety, child protection measures, care of the environment and governance.
This is the Unit’s fifth burgee in a row and we are very proud to display it on the Main Deck.
Raising the Roof!
As you may know, for a number of years we suffered from leaks in the roof which, despite our best efforts to stop them, they simply moved somewhere else, giving us a constant problem with wet decks and damaged walls and ceilings. It became so bad we needed to take radical action – a complete roof replacement. The obvious problem was the cost. Although we had managed to accumulate some funds for the roof, we gotfantastic funding support from the Sea cadet organisation in our Area.
We also got support from the Tesco Bags of Help scheme (the one where you pop little green tallies into the box as you leave their stores). We were voted into first place by the Tesco shoppers of Gateshead and received £4,000. Thanks Tesco - and the shoppers of Gateshead!
The result was a lovely new roof and no leaks – if you go to the other side of the river you will see, in very large letters built into the roof tiles, the words SEA CADETS. So everyone staying at the Copthorne Hotel and anyone walking along the riverside knows who we are – a great advert for the Sea Cadets.
The New Roof
Cadet Activities
Cadets from the Unit have been involved in many activities during the year so far, including rowing, sailing, camping, climbing, swimming, football and drill competitions, with boating being particularly intensive during the summer months.
We continue to provide training and development opportunities which stretch our youngsters: not only in safe boating skills, such as rowing, sailing or power boating, but also in cooking, sports and team building activities. The aim is: To give young people the best possible start in life through nautical adventure and fun.
Our cadets have enthusiastically joined in local and Area courses and competitions, always entering fully into the spirit of the events.
Boating qualifications are being awarded from the basic levels to the most advanced and this is a most important part of our people-development mission.
The cadets have also actively supported our local Salvation Army Centre on several occasions, serving meals and helping with their fund-raising events, demonstrating a willing involvement in community work.
District Sporting Trophy
The Unit cadets won the District Sporting Trophy for the second time at the end of 2017– our aim is to keep it again in 2018 !
District Sporting Trophy
People
The Unit continues to attract and retain Cadets and Juniors, averaging about 20throughout the past year. As Juniors advance to become Cadets, we have a good recruiting record for new Juniors to replace them, and from time to time, Cadets of various ages join the Unit. We welcome all-comers and are always ready to accept new entrants.
We have also had a very satisfactory increase in uniformed volunteers/instructors during this year, now having 10 available. Which leads to excellent cadet/instructor ratios.
Funding
The Unit is fully self-supporting and has to find all of its own funds. There is no funding from the MoD (other than certain uniform items which are free-issued).
We would like to thank our various supporters very much indeed for their wonderful and continuing support. During the past year they include:
- The Lightfoot Foundation
- Sir James Knott Foundation
- Maersk Shipping
- Tesco Bags of Help
Without this generous and selfless support the Unit could not continue providing our Cadets with the facilities and the equipment with which to unlock the potential of our future citizens.
David Byrne, Chair Unit Management Committee
david.byrne@flag-c.com
Patron: HM The Queen
A charity registered in England and Wales
313013 and in Scotland SC037808
