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A group of Cadets visited a number of marine insurance and law companies raffling cakes baked by our Fund Raising Officer, Barbara Smith. This event had been arranged by the Chairman of our Unit Management Team, Captain John L David and fellow UMT member, Graham Smith.

The event was a great success and our thanks go out to the Britannia Steamship Insurance Company, Catlin, Walton and Morse LLP, Thomas Cooper, Hardy Underwriting, Decus, RSA and Lloyds Agency for both their warm welcome and generosity. The money raised will be put towards a week on the Norfolk Broads in April for the kids.

Photo: At Britannia, Chairman’s wife Iva, 2^nd from left.  Cadets left to right: James Ambler, Alex Smith, India Steel and Imogen Singer.

Almost the entire Unit turned out for a fun evening of ice skating, for most Cadets this was the last event of 2013.

This has been a fantastic year for the Unit: over and above the normal training and advancement activities, the highlights have been the nine-day trip to the South of France and the successes with the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.

These, heavily subsidised, activities have been made possible by the hard work of all those associated with the Unit in raising money. This consists not only of the public events, such as bag packing and Flag Day, but also private, “behind the scenes”, fund raising by members of the Unit Management Team.  

The highlight of 2014 will undoubtedly be the week of cruising around the Norfolk Broads during the Easter school holidays.

Photo: Left to right- Cadets Gemma Knowles, Yasmine Leblebici, India Steel and staff member Luke Short. 

There is a selection of photos from the year on the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CityofLondonSCC

A large contingent from the Unit: Cadets, Uniformed Staff and a full turnout from the Parents’ and Supporters’ Committee undertook a bag pack. This fundraising event was held to raise money for the Unit’s 2014 Duke of Edinburgh expedition program. We are aiming to get a substantial number of Cadets through both the bronze and silver awards. The Cadets worked hard, spending hours on their feet, while maintaining their usual cheerful demeanour.

Also at the store was Sarah Barker, who is running in next year’s London Marathon to raise money for St Joseph’s Hospice. Sarah and her crew were wrapping gifts in the foyer to raise money- we wish Sarah every success in this worthy endeavour.

Thanks are due to Mary Cosgrove, Community Life Champion at the store, and her colleagues for making the Unit so welcome.

Photo: The Crew. See more photos in the Gallery under "Volunteering".

In common with most hospices, St Joseph’s holds a “LUAL” around this time of year, where people are invited to dedicate a light to a loved one. In fact, this year St Joseph’s held three LUALs, including their first in Tower Hamlets- at the Isle of Dogs ASDA store. The City of London Sea Cadet Unit was privileged to have been invited to support the celebration.  The celebration was set around readings or poems from all three Abrahamic religions: Christianity, Islam and Judaism.  The Service was both uplifting and moving.

The Cadets behaved impeccably, not only during the Service, but also selling items such as Christmas cards on behalf of the Hospice, handing out orders of service and moving equipment. Cadets Mohamed Jana (14) and “JJ” Leblebici (12) formed, on their own initiative, an ardent multi faith selling team of two- well done boys!

Prior to this event Anita Brien, from St Joseph’s, had visited the Unit to explain to the Cadets both the role of a hospice in end-of-life care and the significance of LUAL. Anita’s efforts have not been wasted. Cadet Mohamed Jana said that “It was really nice meeting all the different people and raising money for people that really need care”.

Photo:  Cadets during the Service. More photos in the gallery under volunteering.

After all the exciting events of the Summer and all the ceremonial events of the Autumn it is important not to overlook the routine training that takes place twice a week aboard HMS Belfast. The Cadet Advancement syllabus covers a wide range of both classroom and practical subjects. Examples include, but are by no means limited to, Ropework, Drill, Meteorology, Map Reading, First Aid. A normal Unit parade evening consists of a training session lasting around 45 minutes, a break (known as “stand-easy”), another training session and, finally, a parade known as “colours”. It is at colours that awards and promotions are announced.

On this particular evening the first session was drill and at colours Yasmine Leblebici, Teddy Janes and Zak Bartley were all promoted to Able Cadet- well done!

Photo: The more experienced Cadets practice drill. See the more recent recruits practicing drill in the gallery section under “Parade”.