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Thanks to Sport Relief and the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, our cadets had the opportunity to enjoy some fun on the water at our district boating station at Derwenthaugh on 27-29 June. Our cadets stayed overnight in the brand new, purpose built accommodation block for the duration of the weekend and secured some boating qualifications - at no cost to themselves or their families. We are thankful for the Sport Relief grant and look forward to our next weekend on 29-31 August. For more photographs, please go to our Facebook page www.facebook.com/whitleybayseacadets Our thanks also go to the volunteers who helped make this adventure weekend possible.

Whitley Bay Sea Cadets can proudly announce they received a burgee from the Captain of the Sea Cadets Jonathan Holloway on 27 June 2014. The burgee is awarded to Sea Cadet units who demonstrate outstanding performance across a variety of disciplines over the course of the last 12 months and it means our unit is one of the best performing units in the UK.

Commanding Officer Jane Fox RNR who is pictured receiving the burgee from Captain Holloway said, "We are thrilled at this honour and being awarded with a burgee represents the hard work of our instructors, all of whom are volunteers. We are a vibrant, friendly unit and whilst there is always room for improvement, this recognition demonstrates that we give the "cadet experience" which is to give young people from our region a head start in life through nautical adventure and fun".

On 27 June 2014 we hosted Captain Sea Cadets Jonathan Holloway RN, as he presented recently retired volunteer Ken Caslaw MBE with the Captain's Medal which marks 50 years of volunteer service in the Sea Cadets. In fact, Ken's actual length of service is 67 years!

Captain Holloway said:  I was delighted to have the opportunity to visit Whitley Bay Sea Cadets in order to award the Captain's Medal to Lt Cdr Ken Caslaw MBE RNR (Retired). This medal is only awarded to those who have given at least 50 years of adult volunteer service to the Sea Cadets Corps - it is therefore a very rare award. It was a real pleasure to award it to Ken who has given an almost unbelievable 67 years of service to the young people of Whitley Bay and it was a real pleasure to hear him talk about how the Corps have changed since he joined in 1947. The service provided by dedicated volunteers like Ken is invaluable and I am extremely grateful to him and to all those who willingly give up their free time to help give a great cadet experience to our young people"

Everyone at Whitley Bay Sea Cadets congratulates and thanks Ken for his dedication and commitment to young people from our region.

For most teenagers, getting up at 6.30am is a bit of a pain but not for 15 year old Whitley Bay Sea Cadet Taliarose Whitelock, who has just returned from spending a week living, sleeping and working on the Sea Cadets flagship, TS Royalist.

Along with 23 young people from a range of Youth United member organisations, Taliarose from Monkseaton who has been a Sea Cadet for 2 1/2 years, sailed from Newcastle Gateshead Quayside on Saturday 7 June 2014 for a six day offshore voyage to Inverness, and thrived on the challenges that sailing at sea brings. The voyage was made even more special because this was TS Royalist’s last trip to the River Tyne before she makes her final circumnavigation of the UK. The 96 foot brig is due to retire after 43 years of faithful service after having taken over 30,000 cadets to sea where they have experienced the most exhilarating and unique set of challenges.

Roy Taylor, TS Royalist’s Sailing Master and Relief Commanding Officer said, “It is a pleasure to be on the River Tyne in what will be the very last time on TS Royalist. Voyages on TS Royalist are open to all 14,000 Sea Cadets but sailing is only part of it because our emphasis is also on team work, communication, navigation and fun. When Sea Cadets join us on TS Royalist, they do so on a level playing field and have the same opportunity to make the most of the adventure but after a week, they leave us having experienced ownership, a sense of duty and loyalty. Some cadets also secure valuable qualifications on board which give them a head start in life – we see this as a sound investment in the citizens of tomorrow.”

Taliarose said, “This experience has been amazing! I loved being able to watch the moon go down and the sunrise in one watch, I've learnt so much about the other cadet forces I never knew before. I've made lots of new friends and I especially enjoyed climbing the 30m mast as I don't think I could have had a better view of Newcastle from the River Tyne. I've passed a sailing qualification and can't wait to get out to sea again to test my new skills. I would like to thank the Sea Cadets for choosing me to go on this once in a lifetime opportunity.”

On 29 May 2014, we were invited to a special presentation at Asda, Benton to collect a cheque after we were selected as Community Life Champions. Asda customers had the opportunity to vote for us using their green tokens and as a result of their support, Asda have generously donated £50.00 to Whitley Bay Sea Cadets - thank you Asda!