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I signed up for the cadet fundraising challenge when our unit asked us to think of a challenge that we could do ourselves to raise money for our new minibus. We had a lot of the money raised by other means, but we still needed another £2000 or so.

We had to think of the idea ourselves and carry it out. It could be anything. I chose my challenge and decided to do a 1.4-mile swim from Bournemouth pier to Boscombe pier. It’s longer than you think!

I have swum many times and probably even that distance, but this is completely different. For a start it’s much, much colder. The tides, if against you make swimming a lot harder and it feels like you are going one stroke forward and five strokes back.

I started out too shallow and swam deeper to avoid the groynes; these are walls built into the sea to prevent longshore drift. The good thing about these groynes is there are lots of them from Bournemouth to Boscombe and I used them to count down how long I had left. I knew how many there were because we parked at Boscombe and walked to Bournemouth before I started, so I counted as I went along. This helped me to think about the length of time I might have left to swim.

I didn’t have time to practice this swim because I had been so busy doing my first year of A levels. I would recommend that anyone doing something similar does practice a lot in the sea.

Myself and the other four cadets managed to raise £1242.55 by doing our challenges and this made buying the minibus a lot quicker.

Ordinary Cadet James
Winchester Sea Cadets

Last month, our First Sea Lord Cadets were invited to join Admiral Sir Philip Jones KCB ADC at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) HQ in London for the day, getting the opportunity to speak to the Admiral and meet members of the Navy Board, the body responsible for the day-to-day running of the Royal Navy.

Before heading to the MoD main building, cadets were treated to a tour of the historic boardroom in the old admiralty buildings, this is where the most important decisions affecting the Navy have been made since 1725 and contains a number of artefacts including a portrait of Admiral Nelson and an ornate carved fireplace.

Once at main building the group received briefings on naval operations, aviation and life as a weapons engineer before a buffet lunch and photographs with the Navy Board. 

Able Cadet Miles and Cadet first Class Fraser, from Brentwood Sea Cadets, spent their free time last month helping a Royal Navy Veteran in need.

Eighty-six-year-old Ted Hill, a former Royal Navy Stoker had initially contacted the unit to see if they would like some books from his library but after PO (SCC) Hayward met with Ted she realised he was in need of some support. She explained to the cadets about the situation and they immediately asked if they could help him.

Ted will shortly be moving over 100 miles away to a new home, and was in need of assistance to clear his extensive library of naval books, which he no longer wanted to keep. The cadets took it upon themselves to arrange what support they could offer and contacted some nearby charity shops. After selecting some of the books for their unit, Miles and Fraser, each logged over 3000 steps clearing the books, which they delivered to Barnardo’s and St Francis’ Hospice in Harold Hill.

On 14 April, Harlow Sea Cadets joined The Harlow Council Spring Clean Up and did some serious damage as cadets and volunteers managed to collect over 12 bags of rubbish around the city, negotiating some seriously thick hedge to get the job done. 

PPO (SCC) Kelly Aimable from Harlow said: "we chose to do the litter pick up as it is a great way to show the cadets the impact it has when people drop litter on the floor. It also teaches them responsibility for the environment. We feel it is a great cause to support as it is helping towards future generations an we are proud of the cadets that turned up to help and be involved".

BZ Harlow Sea Cadets for your work in improving your local community!

ive-years-ago, ex-Peterhead cadet Megan was the youngest competitor at Sea Cadets' National Combined Regatta where she effortlessly took gold in the Yole category - now she's aiming to win gold for Team GB!

Reflecting on the competition five-years-ago, Northern Area Officer Peter Adams said: "I saw Megan win gold in the Yole category of the National Combined Regatta at the age of 14.  She was the youngest competitor but she seemed to effortlessly cross the finish line and was well ahead of the competition".

Megan's love of rowing was so strong that she ended up leaving Sea Cadets to focus solely on her rowing, going on to be selected for Scotland and, recently, the Great British team.

Megan's mum, Gillian told us: "As her mum, I’m so grateful for the opportunities Sea Cadets provided. The life lessons Megan learned whilst at Sea Cadets have provided a strong platform that enabled her to succeed both in the classroom and on the water."