News

The government has announced £5 million in funding for uniformed youth groups to enable more disadvantaged young people to succeed

The increased investment from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport will be overseen by Youth United Foundation, a member organisation for uniformed youth groups, of which Sea Cadets are a member.

We are proud of our association with Youth United Foundation. We both share a commitment to reach vulnerable young people and provide them with opportunities to participate in weekly activities, designed to improve their wellbeing and develop important life skills.

Through a combination of water-based adventure, vocational qualifications and the development of community spirit, we empower young people, enabling them to succeed irrespective of their circumstances.

"We measure our success by the number of parents or guardians who can recognise a positive impact of Sea Cadets on their young people, communities feeling rewarded by the presence of Sea Cadets and the cadets themselves feeling empowered and connected."

There are more than 14,000 Sea cadets found in 400 communities around the country, guided by 9,000 volunteers. We have plans to grow the number of cadets by another 1,000 by 2021, with a commitment to ensuring we reach all young people, regardless of their background.

Coles adds: ‘We will continue to support the work we are doing in areas where there is the most need and are always looking for new initiatives to expand our support wherever to ensure that young people of all backgrounds are able to succeed.’

Hard on the heels of our boat work week, nine of our cadets travelled to the Royal Navy Air Station at Yeovilton for a day with the Fleet Air Arm including a flight in a Grob trainer, photographed. At the same time three of our cadets were aboard T. S. Royalist sailing her from St Malo to Weymouth and, if this was not enough, Leading Cadet Sian has also qualified as a drill instructor!  What other youth organisation can offer such a variety of adventurous and worthwhile activities?

I have recently returned from the International Exchange to Newport, Rhode Island, USA. The exchange was almost two weeks long and it was an amazing experience for myself and the nine other UK cadets that attended. We stayed at a Naval Base with cadets from 7 other countries including Sweden, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, United States of America, Hong Kong and South Africa. Meeting cadets from around the world was one of the best parts of this exchange; learning all about their lifestyles, and the similarities and differences between the cadet organisations were extremely interesting and an eye-opening experience.

This exchange was many of our first trips to America and for one of the UK cadets, it was her first time on a plane. Having known that we were attending this trip for six months beforehand we were all extremely excited and were counting down the days before our plane took off!

We visited many cities throughout our time in the US ranging from the harbour town of Newport, the historic site of Boston and the Big Apple, New York City. These visits were definitely highlights of the exchange. The trip touring Boston was particularly memorable as all the cadets took part in a scavenger hunt finding different sites along the Freedom Trail. Our two day trip to New York, occurring over Independence Day, was so much fun as we all felt like we were walking through a movie set due to the sites that we saw.

Our two weeks in America was jam-packed and we didn’t stop. Along with visiting the tourist sites that the East Coast has to offer, we visited the US coastguard academy, kayaked down a beautiful river and even received a tour of an active nuclear submarine.

The International Exchange Programme has now been running for 20 years and to celebrate this anniversary everyone attend a beautiful BBQ on base one evening. We played games and toasted marshmallows as the sun set over the bridge in Newport.

To end our amazing trip, every cadet and staff member attend the Farewell Dinner at the Newport Officers Club where a fantastic spread of food was provided for us as well as music to dance to.

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience in America and did not want it to end! I want to say thank you to all the staff in America and the United Kingdom for making possible and I hope I will be back in the US soon!

Cpl Chloe - United Kingdom

Sea Cadets from across the UK recently participated in an exciting week of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics based activities at the HMS Sultan Sea Cadets Engineering Summer Camp.

24 Cadets aged between 14 and 18 were given hands-on experience of Air and Marine Engineering within the Defence College of Technical Training’s Defence School of Marine Engineering and the Royal Naval Air Engineering & Survival Equipment School in support of the ‘2018 Year of Engineering’ cross-government campaign to encourage young people into engineering.

As well as promoting Engineering, the week also offered the Cadets an opportunity to develop an understanding of leadership within the Royal Naval Leadership Academy at HMS Collingwood, and make trips to QinetiQ, the Royal Navy’s research agency, and go onboard HMS Dragon and HMS Westminster.

The Cadets were accommodated throughout the week within the HMS Sultan Royal Naval Cadets Unit. With the Cadets having to ensure that Fort Grange Keep was kept fit for a rounds inspection throughout.

On the Friday morning, before heading home the Cadets ensured that their boots were sparkling as they attended a special passing out parade. Certificates were presented to each Cadet by Commodore Paul Marshall CBE Royal Navy, the Type 26 Programme Director. In addition, Cadet Titania Whitham from Hull-based unit TS Iron Duke was presented with a special prize as the group's top performer.

Titania Whitham said: “I travelled a long way to take part in the week and I’m really glad that I have. The guys in the workshops have been excellent, they’ve welcomed us in even with lots of Navy training going on around us and we’ve done it. There’s a lot more to it than I expected.”