News

Monday 21 October 2013 saw the unit host its AGM and Annual Awards evening.

The unit welcomed The Worshipfull The Mayor of Stockton-on-Tees, Councillor Kathryn Nelson, parents and supporters of the unit as cadets were presented with hard earned achievements and recognition for what has been an eventful 12 months.

During the evening the Mayor presented the unit with its annual efficiency award of a 'Pennant' for its achievements leading up to the Royal Navy Inspection in April this year. The unit Officer in Charge, Tim Clyburn, said 'This is an excellent achievement, the cadets and staff have put in a lot of hard work to gain this award.'.

The unit would like to extend its thanks to all that attended to support the evening.

14 year old Lauren Bewick has just returned from spending a week living, sleeping and working on the Sea Cadets flagship, TS Royalist. Along with 24 Sea Cadets from across the UK, Lauren who has been a Sea Cadet for three years, sailed 100 nautical miles from Brixham to Weymouth and thrived on the challenges that sailing at sea brings. She particularly enjoyed  climbing the rigging and getting involved in all aspects of learning how to sail the iconic vessel.

Lauren said “this opportunity has given me so much confidence in myself, I still can’t believe I actually climbed the mast and I have made so many new friends for life. One extra special memory was being at the bow of the boat and I saw 5 dolphins jumping in and out of the water, but my favourite was being “on watch” because I had to work out the navigation and steer the wheel – it took some time to get the hang of it but I got there in the end -  a once in a lifetime experience”.

Since 1971 the Sea Cadets flagship TS Royalist has been taking cadets on a voyage at sea where they can experience the most exhilarating – and unique challenges. Whether it’s hoisting the sails in stormy weather or navigating big waves, nothing compares to the feeling of being out at sea, right there in the elements, taking on challenging nautical training and pulling together with other cadets to safely navigate Britain’s coastline. This is teamwork taken to another level.

On 28 September and 5th October 2013, Tesco and Asda shoppers may have seen our cadets packing their shopping! Stockton Sea Cadets extend their gratitude to the customers and staff at Tesco in Stockton and Asda’s, Thornaby branch for enabling us to raise vital funds which will help us to provide young people from our region with a head start in life. Customers donated £850.00 which will make a tremendous difference to the cadets in our Unit – thank you!

On 22 September 2013, all five Sea Cadet units across Teesside were involved in a very special fundraising and showcase event at Middlesbrough Football Club. Not only were we mentioned on BBC Look North and BBC Tees, our Cadets featured in the programme, were involved in a flag parade around the stadium at the beginning of the match welcoming spectators to the stadium, they stepped on to the pitch and formed a guard of honour to greet the players and even had the opportunity to take a penalty on the pitch after the game! The highlight was the half time performance where we showcased our band and were overwhelmed to receive a standing ovation. Our Cadets did have time to watch the match too in an area especially reserved for us in the new family section of the stadium. The cadets, our parents and supporters all sat together and we watched a thrilling 3-3 scoreline unfold. Thank you to everyone who participated and our thanks also go to Middlesbrough Football Club for making us Matchday Stars. You can see a selection of the photographs on "Teesside Sea Cadets" Facebook page.

26/07/2013

As a result of our rowathon efforts, a £4.8million contact has been awarded to Spanish shipyard Astilleros Gondan S.A, and designers Acubens to build the Sea Cadets new 21st Century flagship which will take thousands of cadets on an offshore voyage.

The new ship will replace the current ship, TS Royalist, now over 40 years old and increasingly expensive to maintain. A flagship voyage is the pinnacle of the Sea Cadet experience and one which the charity wants to ensure future generations of Sea Cadets can benefit from. TS Royalist launched in 1971 taking over 30,000 cadets to sea in her lifetime.

The new and innovative design offers greater use of space, with better all-round sailing ability and performance. Faster and easier to handle than Royalist, the new ship is also more economical to run. This makes it ideal for offering young people offshore sailing, helping them to learn greater seamanship and sailing skills. The ship is expected to be in service for 40 years.