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Congratulations go out to some of our dedicated volunteers who were recognised in the New Year's Honours List 2018. They are:

John Eltringham, the Chairman of South Shields Sea Cadets Unit who receives an MBE for his voluntary services to young people.

Francis Osborn, an instructor at Bexley & Lewisham Unit, who receives a BEM for voluntary service to young people

Adrian Prior-Sankey, a Chaplain at Taunton Sea Cadets, who receives an MBE for services to the community of Taunton.

A special mention goes out to Vice Admiral Simon Jonathan Woodcock who received a KCB.

Everyone at Sea Cadets is thrilled your valuable contributions have been recognised in such a way. BZ! 

Sea Cadets would like to wish all cadets, volunteers, parents and supporters a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

It has been a fantastic 2017 for the charity. Cadets have performed brilliantly at district, area and national competitions, and we've seen some great stories of personal successes, too. We also launched our new yacht, TS City of London, and look forward to the naming and commissioning of TS Sir Stelios, our second yacht, next year.

Please note that all Sea Cadets' offices, including headquarters, boat stations, training centres and area offices, will be closed from Friday 22 December to Tuesday 2 January.

Congratulations to this year's national trophy and award winners, who were announced today.

Scarborough Unit has won the coveted Canada Trophy, which is awarded to the unit considered to have attained the highest standard over the year. Barrow-in-Furness Sea Cadets, last year's winner, has secured the Thomas Gray Memorial Trophy, which is the runner-up to the Canada Trophy and was won last year by Scarborough.

Ashington and Bexley & Lewisham units are joint winners of the Captain’s Cup, which goes to the unit that has made a particular impression on Captain Sea Cadets.

Captain Philip Russell RN, Captain Sea Cadets, said: "Congratulations to all our 2017 trophy winners. It's been another memorable year for Sea Cadets, and it's great to recognise the fantastic work that our units, volunteers and cadets have been doing up and down the country. The standard continues to increase, and there were many commendable performances."

Other awards and trophies include:

Stephenson Trophy: Scarborough;  Bexley & Lewisham; Ashington; Barrow in Furness; Portsmouth; Exmouth

McBeath Trophy: Middlesbrough

Captain Roddie Casement Sword: Lt (SCC) Michael Farrell RNR, North West

Next year's Gibraltar Cup contenders were also revealed. They are:

Eastern Area: Sheffield

London Area: Kingston & District

Northern Area: Hartlepool

North West Area: Preston

Southern Area: Jersey

South West Area: Gloucester

You can view the full list of winners here.

Cadets who took part in NCS were recognised for their amazing projects at a graduation ceremony at Trinity House, London. 

The graduation took place on Saturday 9 December, with cadets from across the country coming together in celebration of their achievements.

This year, the scheme was run in North West, London, Southern, South West and Eastern areas. In phase one, cadets enjoyed various activities at SCTC Raleigh, including tobogganing, skiing, snowboarding and sledding. They also faced their fears on climbing walls and took on a huge waterborne assault course in half-term week (24 October – 27 October).

Cadets then immediately returned to their respective areas, where they started phase two of the project. This included learning employability skills, as well as a session where the teens researched and pitched to link up with community projects. For phase three, a social action project, groups chose a charity or cause to support and delivered the programme in their local community.

London Area set up an education stall talking to the public about addiction and sexual exploitation, while Eastern Area cadets ran an action-packed training day and pictures night for Harborough Junior Sea Cadets in aid of Action4Homeless Leicester. Cadets in South West Area ran an activity day at Victoria Centre in Lydney, Gloucestershire, which provides meals and entertainment for the elderly during the week. And North West Area is working with Veterans in Sefton, a service that offers personalised support to military veterans in need, to distribute rucksacks containing vital items to homeless veterans.

Meanwhile, Southern Area cadets held a Christmas fair on Sunday 3 December in Woking in partnership with Surrey-based Challengers Disability, which provides inclusive play and leisure activities for disabled children and young people in the South East. Challengers Disability needs to raise £600,000 to renovate its fire-damaged property.

Sea Cadets was honoured to be part of an historic day at the commissioning of HMS Queen Elizabeth.

Her Majesty the Queen yesterday commissioned the UK's new aircraft carrier into the Royal Navy, at a ceremony that cadets and volunteers were invited to.

First Sea Lord cadets from Sea Cadets, CCF (Combined Cadet Force) and VCC (Volunteer Cadet Corps) handed out programmes and assisted VIPs. 

The Queen spoke at Portsmouth Naval Base, attended by Her Royal Highness Princess Anne, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson and military chiefs.

In her role as the ship's Lady Sponsor, Her Majesty addressed guests before the ship's Commanding Officer, Captain Jerry Kyd, read the commissioning warrant. The White Ensign was then raised.