News

Parents, guardians and cadets.
You are invited to our Spring Social on Friday 22nd April, 19:00 - 21:30 at the unit.
This is not a parade night; all cadets are welcome with their parents/guardians.
There will be a buffet and the bar will be open.
Please come and join us.

After some 18 months of effort from all Bedfordshire Sea Cadet Units we had our RTC Qualification today. This was largely successful and we have only a few points to address within our paperwork and a couple of issues with our high performance sailing boats and a powerboat to be addressed in the next few weeks and we will be operating RYA Training Centre.
Our sincerest thanks to Tye, our coach, for his help and support. His advice and guidance was invaluable today.
All SCC units from Bedfordshire will benefit from the HUB. And thanks to the CO and Chairman from Flitwick and Ampthill and CO Biggleswade and our DO for their input and contribution today.
And thanks to POC Kayte and cadets from Dunstable for the shore based Training efforts.
It has been a long and cold day so the effort had been tremendous.
Thanks
Ade

It was an early start on Saturday for breakfast and then leaving the unit at 07:00. We got to the dockyards about 09:30, about 30 minutes before it opened, so after a brief wait, we were in as soon as it opened.
While I was getting the tickets, the remainder of the staff and cadets were being shown a Willys Jeep used on D-Day and finding out about some of its history.
We then went through the dockyards to our first activity, HMS Victory. HMS Victory was Nelson's flagship and remains the oldest commissioned warship in the world. HMS Victory is currently undergoing restoration, which meant that we could not see the Great Cabin, however most of the remainder of the ship was accessible. Although not a problem for some of the cadets, headroom was an issue especially for the staff on the lower decks.
As we finished on HMS Victory, it was time to head back across the dockyards to HMS Warrior. HMS Warrior is a 150 year old steam and sail powered iron clad ship, armed with 40 cannons. During our tour, the operation of the cannons was explained to the cadets and a couple of them became Captain of the Gun and fired the cannon (percussion caps only).
After a break for lunch, we came back for Action Stations. The cadets enjoyed their time here on the climbing wall, simulators and other activities.
We finished the trip off with a visit to the RN museum and left the dockyards after a long day at about 17:00.
Once back at the unit, we all enjoyed a great meal prepared for us during the day by the CO, SLt Blumenthal. With a choice of spag bol or curry, no-one went hungry.
Sunday was a later start, and after packing away all of the camp beds and kit, we left the unit about 08:00 to head back to Portsmouth for the RM museum.
On arrival, we had a brief introductory talk about the museum and its history. The cadets then explored the museum armed with quizzes to see what they could find.
After exploring the museum, everyone had fun on the Assault Course. At times, it was competitive with some cadets (and staff) and I think everyone, staff included, had a go on the zip line.
After our packed lunch, we went for a walk on the beach and some had ice creams.
We stopped off at Starbucks in the services on the way back for a break and finally got back to the unit after some heavy traffic about 18:20.
Cadets wore their uniform smartly in public and were a credit to the unit. Well done.
Thank you to the other drivers for the weekend, PO Worker, ASgt Harmer and PO Becsei, to Sir for catering for the whole weekend and to PO Atkins, APO Whittamore and PCI Owen for assisting.
I hope you enjoyed it, I certainly did and am looking forward to the next trip.
PO Becsei has posted up some of the many photos that she took over the course of the weekend on Facebook 
PO Hedges.

On 28th February, PO Worker received an commendation from the Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire acknowledging his contribution to the Cadet Forces.
Congratulations from all in the unit. Thank you for your support to the unit.

Congratulations to POC Kayte who was appointed today as one of the Lord-Lieutenant of Bedfordshire's cadets.

The role of Lord-Lieutenant’s cadets is to support the Lord-Lieutenant in carrying out her duties and their selection and appointment acknowledges their outstanding contribution to their cadet service and to the community.