News

Marine Society and Sea Cadets were well represented in the New Year’s Honours List.

MSSC Trustee John May DL (pictured) becomes an OBE for services to young people, while former trustee and current MSSC Vice-President Patrick Stewart MBE receives a CVO for his work as Lord Lieutenant of Argyll and Bute.

The recognition of Sea Cadet volunteers across the country remains one of the highlights of the Honours List.

While three volunteers have become recipients of British Empire Medals (BEM), Janice Spicer was made an MBE for her fund-raising efforts to many charities in her native Hull, including Sea Cadets.

Mrs Spicer, 65 and from Hull, joined as a teenager when girls were first admitted in the late 1960s.

After coming back the following week, Janice remained for a near-continuous 50 years period. “My dad wasn’t sure. He huffed that it would be another “week-long wonder” but I knew different,” she said.

21 members of Janice’s family are now Sea Cadets and despite severe illness in her family, she remains as committed to the Sea Cadet cause as ever.

“I had good role models in a nan who brought up kids on their own and my mum’s sister who would take everyone from their street on train for a day’s holiday. If I’m as good an Aunty as our Aunty Madge. I’m doing all right. Sea Cadets in a way are my family and this is for them as much as anyone else.”

Emma Walton BEM from Grimsby has been honoured for community and voluntary service in helping her local Sea Cadets,

Since getting involved within Sea Cadets in 2015, Emma has helped recruit a new set of trustees, refurbish and sign a 99 year lease on their building near the Royal Dock, launch a major recruitment drive for both cadets and volunteers, develop partnerships with local businesses and charities as well as raise over £70,000 within four years to secure the future of Grimsby and Cleethorpes Sea Cadets.

All of this, in spite of being a mother of three which was added to by the arrival of Emma and her husband’s fourth child three years ago. She is also chair of Lincolnshire District Sea Cadets and helps to train new chairs across the East of England.

“I do it because I enjoy it. I’ve made so many friends and when my eldest daughter joined, I started helping out tidying up the unit. “I didn’t really know what I was letting myself in for, when I became Chair.”

Lieutenant Commander George Wilson, London Region HQSO as well as Chief Petty Officer Stefen Wells from Shirley also received BEMs for sterling work in their communities.

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.

Thousands gathered at Horse Guards Parade and The Mall to witness the Sea Cadets annual Trafalgar Day Parade 2019.

400 sea cadets from across the UK impressed at Horse Guards Parade, overlooked by the London Eye. Sea cadets demonstrated their teamwork and training with performances from the Physical Training Team, the Massed Bands of the Sea Cadets Corps and Unit presentations.

The performances were complimented by live singing performances of I Dreamed a Dream, Skyfall, and Hymns.

Following Unit inspection from Sea Cadets Captain Phil Russell RN and the Mayor of Westminster, the buglers sounded to mark a 2 minute silence observed by the crowd. After which, the Wreath laying ceremony was performed.

Sea Cadets then marched on The Mall towards Buckingham Palace to close the ceremony. Stunning Londoners, tourists and their families with a courageous march display.

Today, Sea Cadets will attend Nelson’s Tomb at St Paul’s Cathedral for a remembrance ceremony.

Trafalgar Day commemorates Admiral Lord Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar on the 21st of October 1805. The most important day in the Naval Calendar that defined British sailing for hundreds of years.

Sea cadets, from Northern Ireland, who travelled 19 hours to take part in the parade said "It was a once in a lifetime opportunity." Watch their full interview on our Twitter page, click here.

Sea Cadets and partners Seafarers UK are celebrating after receiving recognition at the 2019 Maritime UK Awards on 19 September. 

The Marine Engineering Pathway project, run by Sea Cadets and funded by Seafarers UK, won the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) category - sponsored by DFDS – at the prestigious awards ceremony held in Southampton.

The event staged in the presence of Maritime Minister, Nusrat Ghani MP, recognised the partnership which began in 2015. The project offers tailored, specific workshops which teach key national curriculum concepts that relate to marine engineering.  Pupils will learn how and why things float, are then tasked to build a boat and challenged to see how much cargo it can hold before it sinks. MEP1, which concluded this year, engaged with 18,000 students while MEP2 (2019 – 2022) is expected to reach in excess of 37,500 students in its lifetime. 

Sally Wilkinson, STEM Program Manager for MEP, said, “This award is fantastic recognition for the hard work and dedication of the team over the last few years. Looking forward, we aim to increase our engagement with younger students, and build on the foundations already laid with key stage three students.  We will also be introducing new workshops and POD taster sessions”.

Many thanks go to our partners Seafarers UK for their funding and co-operation which has led to this award. It’s a credit to staff running the programme that they should be recognised in this way. The Marine Engineering Pathway project is succeeding in introducing the principles of marine engineering to students and long may that work continue.

Martin J Coles, CEO, Sea Cadets