News

Sea Cadets are delighted to join the National Children’s Bureau and pledge our support to the #GiveUsACHANCEllor campaign, which seeks to lobby the Government to put children and young people at the heart of future government spending plans. 

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, is currently planning on how Government will spend their money in the next few years, so now is a vital time for everyone at Sea Cadets to air their voice and ask for Government to recognise young people as a vital strategic cause they need to invest in.  

As a charity that works in 75% of the local authorities which contain the most left behind neighbourhoods in the UK, we know how important funding is in improving young people’s lives. 

 We need to make sure that all children and young people have equal opportunities in life regardless of their circumstances, and after Covid-19 young people need more support than ever.  

By pledging support for the #GiveUsACHANCEllor campaign you stand for:  

• helping young people to find suitable jobs or apprenticeships by investing in schemes, organisations and companies that can provide these opportunities  

• improving mental health support for young people 

• investing in youth services and giving councils the money to re-open local libraries and community centres 

• better public transport across the whole of the country  

But by joining the campaign you will also help us ask the Government to: 

• Listen to the issues that we are raising in this statement 

• Prioritise spending that protects young people’s futures 

• Responding to us to tell us how this Government is making decisions with children and young people in mind 

How can you get involved?  

Sea Cadets’ CEO, Martin Coles, along with our First Sea Lord Cadets have already signed an open letter to Government on behalf of Sea Cadets as a leading national youth organisation. 

However, your voice can be heard too! We need you to sign the open letter to our chancellor and post the following on social media. Together with thousands of other young people across the UK you will be seen by the leaders of our Government.  

SIGN THE LETTER 

Post the following on your social media accounts if you have any:  

#GiveUsACHANCEllor We want Govt. money spent on mental health, help to find jobs or apprenticeships & better local youth services, libraries; community centres. If you are aged 25 and under or a parent sign our plea to Rishi Sunak to put #ChildrenAtTheHeart #SeaCadets 

Sea Cadets are proud to support the #ChildrenAtTheHeart campaign. We’re calling for the Government to put children at the forefront of the nation’s coronavirus response.

We want the Government to recognise the pandemic has brought about uncertainty and worry, which will lead to anxiety and mental health problems for young people. We know closed schools will damage the educational attainment and life chances of children – the poorest, the most. We know black, asian and minority ethnic communities will be hit the hardest. We know there is no certainty about when the crisis will end and when we can see loved ones again. We know there is more financial hardship to come.

The Budget should be the start of a rescue, recovery and rebuild plan designed to prioritise, support and enable our children to thrive. We need an ambitious, radical plan that will be transformational for the generation of children growing up in today’s modern Britain.

We have joined a group of 80 charities and bodies within the youth sector in writing an open letter to our Prime Minister, calling for a dedicated press conference for young people to answer their questions about the Coronavirus pandemic and to allow under-18s to submit questions to the daily press conference.

Young people across the UK are feeling the effects of the lockdown - mental health, education and so much more have been significantly impacted. However, young people across the country have been making a positive difference to so many communities, as well as supporting their own loved ones. This should be recognised, this should be encouraged.

After constructive initial engagement with Number 10,  #iWill campaign partners are ready to work with the Government to ensure that young people emerge from this crisis ready to continue their lives as active, positive citizens.

Join us online in promoting the campaign - share our posts and create your own (using artwork provided below) Let's get this campaign heard!

Get your artwork for social media here:

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Next Friday is VE day, celebrating when the guns fell silent across Europe marking the end of the Second World War.

We want you to celebrate it with us from home, especially as this year we mark 75 years since the day came about on 8 May 1945.There’s plenty going on across the country to celebrate the moment that the Second World War came to end.

From singalongs to baking, we’ve put together a pack for you to plan your day’s activities and join the national celebration - all from the comfort of your home. 

Download your pack here.

Make sure you share your family celebrations with us on Friday - use #SeaCadetsVEday to tag us in your posts!

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.