News

Four of our volunteers were honoured to be invited to the annual HMS Cleopatra Old Shipmates Association Reunion Dinner as part of their Reunion Weekend in Harrogate this month.

The dinner raised funds for the Old Shipmates Association and was held at the Cedar Court Hotel.

Our Unit is TS Cleopatra, named after HMS Cleopatra. 'TS' stands for 'Training Ship', harking back to the days when young sailors would join up as cadets before they were able to join the Navy as adults. 

PO Freer who attended the event said:

"It was an honour to meet the sailors that served aboard the various HMS Cleopatra's. It was a fabulous evening."

The last HMS Cleopatra (F28) was a Leander-class frigate. She launched on 21 March 1964, commissioned on 1 March 1966 and was decommissioned on 31 January 1992. She was the sixth HMS Cleopatra of the Royal Navy, the first was a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth-rate frigate built in 1778 and launched in November 1779.

Pictured: PO Freer and Mike Langford, Area Chair Eastern, District Chair NEY and Unit Chair Harrogate

Now that the lighter evenings and warmer weather have arrived, we are back at the scenic lake at Ripon Sailing Club, Farnham, Knaresborough on a Friday night. 

Fancy an evening out on the lake yourself? Why not look to join us as a cadet if you are aged 10-17 or a volunteer for those 18+. Contact us directly for further information, or you can learn more about volunteering for the Sea Cadets here. 

You can follow us on our social media pages to keep up to date with what we are up to at the lake:

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Everyone achieves something in Harrogate Sea Cadets whether its qualifications, badges or promotions. The Mayor of Harrogate, Councillor Victoria Odham and Rear Admiral Ed Ahlgren OBE were guests of honour and presented all the prizes when the unit held their awards night at Harrogate Ladies College on 24 Feb. Lots of Parents chose to attend as well and their contribution (in delivering and collecting their cadets on parade nights and to the boating station at Ripon Sailing Club) was gratefully acknowleged. 

• "Thank you for an amazing 6 years full of great friends, memories and opportunities!"
• "A big thank you to you all for encouraging me and supporting me throughout the 8 years I have been a cadet. I have thoroughly enjoyed every second of my time with you all and I will never forget all the opportunities I have been given" 
• "THANK YOU!. I've had the most amazing past 7 years in cadets! I can't believe I've stuck at something for so long when all my friends thought I'd quit within a week! I've met people I hope to be in contact with for a long time and I want to thank all the staff for all their amazing support and time".

After 2 years of immense efforts by all the staff and tremendous loyalty from the cadets the unit is back to boating activities as we remember them. Here we see lots of the boats out. Whether its rowing or sailing dinghys or single handers there's lots for everyone to get involved in at Harrogate Sea Cadets.