News

Congratulations to Lt Cdr (SCC) Don Davies MBE RNR Rtd who was awarded an MBE in the 2011 New Years Honours for services to the Sea Cadets which spans 35 years.

Don joined as a Civilian Instructor in 1975 and since then has occupied an array of posts from Petty Officer Instructor to Commanding Officer plus he has been Chairman at both Dartford and New Romney Units.

Don paid tribute to the support of his wife and his fellow colleagues who have helped him to achieve what he has.

 Also honoured in the New Year list were:
Commodore Barry Bryant RN, Director General, Seafarers UK, who was awarded a CVO, and Mark Brownrigg, Director-General, Chamber of Shipping, who was awarded an OBE for services to the Maritime Industry.

Reverend William McCrea from Southampton has been awarded the Merchant Navy Medal in honoris causa.  He has been decorated for services to the welfare of retired seafarers, especially the alumni of the National Sea Training School/College/Centre, Gravesend.

The recipients of the Merchant Navy Medal were presented with their medal by Admiral Lord West of Spithead, in the company of the shipping minister Mike Penning MP, at the investiture ceremony on Monday 13 December.

Congratulations to Lt (SCC) Marc Pether RMR, Commanding Officer of Kettering Unit, and Lt (SCC) Sean ‘Smudge’ Smith RMR, Detachment Commander at Northampton Royal Marines Cadets, who were awarded Community Stars Awards by St Andrews Healthcare for their work with Sea Cadets. They were both awarded £100 for their Units and Marc, who won the overall award, was awarded a further £250 for his unit and £250 in prize vouchers for himself. Both Marc and Sean work for St Andrew Healthcare and are both delighted to be recognised for their voluntary work.

Gold Challenge, a new charity challenge, launched this week at Lord’s in London. It gives you the chance to test yourself in a range of Olympic and Paralymic sports whilst raising money for charity.

Sports demonstrations from Team GB Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, together with Gold Challenge celebrity ambassador, Konnie Huq, launched the challenge which sets to be the biggest mass participation event to date. Participation can be on an individual basis or as a group and Sea Cadets is one of the charity partners supported by the Challenge.

Gold Challenge is your chance to test your ability at sports you’d never imagined, or progress in sports you already have skills in and allows anyone to take part in 5, 10, 20 or 30 Olympic or Paralympic sports. The sports are widely accessible throughout the UK and in Ireland, and as soon as you have signed up free of charge to the Gold Challenge, you will receive huge discounts for the participation in sports.

For more information on Gold Challenge visit their website www.goldchallenge.org or to receive a Gold Challenge Sea Cadet fundraising pack, please email events@ms-sc.org or call 0207 654 7016$$Sea Cadets help launch Gold Challenge

Sea Cadet volunteer Samantha Green from Northampton Sea Cadets has been awarded a special  RYA Youth Award for her work in encouraging young people onto the water. Sam has dedicated 1000 training hours to support the young cadets and under her guidance the club has trained two new dinghy instructors.

Sam says: "It feels such a great privilege to be part of the day and to be recognised along with the other volunteers. The thing I love about my work is seeing people progressing with the sport whether it is young kids or instructors."

The award was presented by HRH The Princess Royal last week (Thursday 18 November) and Sam is one of 44 volunteers recognised for their outstanding achievements and dedication.

"The RYA Awards and Community Awards acknowledge the importance of volunteers within the sailing and boating communities. They recognise the outstanding contributions, time, effort and experience that these individuals have made to making it possible for others to enjoy boating and sailing, from establishing clubs, committee participation, to boat maintenance and training." Jackie Bennetts, Volunteer Development Officer explains.

Sarah Treseder, RYA Chief Executive says “The RYA is delighted to make these awards in recognition of the enthusiasm, promotion of our sport and many years’ contribution to the sailing scene that these volunteers have provided. The 44 RYA winners are an inspiration to us all and it is my pleasure to recognise and celebrate their hard work and dedication.”