His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire, Ian Dudson CBE, has presented Stoke-on-Trent Sea Cadets with their Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service trophy and certificate. The presentation took place recently at the Unit HQ in Bucknall.
The Unit were informed that they had been awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in June 2022 along with over two hundred voluntary organisations across the Country.
The Lord Lieutenant was greeted with a Guard of Honour and a parade of cadets from across all ages from the Unit. The Commanding Officer, Lieutenant David Eivers , and the Unit Chairman, Mr Darren Ely, received the trophy on behalf of the Unit. Each of the Units Volunteers were then presented with a commemorative pin and certificate.
Many friends and supporters of the Unit were in attendance. These included Deputy Lord-Lieutenants, the Lord Mayor of Stoke and Leader of the Council, Local MP, and Cadet Officers from the area. Admiral Sir Trevor Soar, a former Fleet Commander was in attendance as was Captain Ruth Smeeth RNR, a strong supporter of the Unit.
Volunteers at the unit are both uniformed and civilian. They give many hours of their time to provide the cadets with a varied and enjoyable training programme. The activities enable the cadets to learn teamwork, respect, loyalty, self-confidence, commitment, self-discipline, honesty and how to be the best versions of themselves. The unit offers a range of different activities including sailing, rowing and kayaking. Training involves a nationally agreed syllabus with an emphasis on water based activities. The Unit Management Team oversees the work of the unit and helps raise funds.
The cadets are very appreciative of the time that the volunteers spend for the unit as can be gathered from these two quotes:
Cadet Dylan Gault said: “The Sea cadet staff are very committed. They’ve always helped me get qualifications for my future life.”
Cadet Will Farrar said: “I’ve been here for 4 years and the people in the unit have slowly but surely become family. You develop a strong relationship with the staff who help me, push me and inspire me to be something great in the future.”
Members of the public who are interested in volunteering with the unit can email at the following address: infostokeseacadets@gmail.com.
Find out more about Stoke-on-Trent Sea Cadets or the Cadet Forces.
Published 01/11/2022
