Tewkesbury Sea Cadets

Zara VonBenzon, one of Tewkesbury sea cadets number one sailors has sailed through to the sea cadets national sailing championships, to be held in September. Cadet VonBenzon battledd her way through a tough topper fleet at the South West area championships at the Naval Training Base Whale Island in Portsmouth and came second overall, making her eligible for the nationals. Commanding Officer Lt Cdr (SCC) Jason Kinghorn RNR said: “Its been a great few years for Tewkesbury Sea Cadets sailing team, we’ve had cadets from our unit get to the national finals 5 years running now, an acclaim no one in our area has ever achieved.” Elated staff at Tewkesbury HQ cheered as Zara walked through the door, all of us are very proud of Zara, lets hope she does as well in September, good luck!

Saturday marked the 2010 Severn district regatta, where Tewkesbury Unit astonished on lookers. 100% of their team are going through to the area level competition, an achievement which has never happened before. Zara Von Benzon especially stood out, winning every single one of her races in the topper class. Trainers PO (SCC) Jon Cooper and Midshipman (SCC) Tristan Cooper RNR were very proud of their team, and hope that they will do the same at the area competition where they will race against the best of the South West of England’s sailors within the Corps. Good luck, and well done!

PO (SCC) Marianne Cottee, a dedicated member of staff at Tewkesbury Unit managed to conquer Tewkesbury’s notorious half marathon, a gruelling 13 mile run. Marianne has raised over £500 pounds for new band equipment for Tewkesbury Sea Cadets, which is much needed as their band is booming thanks to bandmaster Flt Lt Guerney, who has recently been promoted to squadron leader, a well deserved acclaim to this dedicated RAF Officer.

“Tewkesbury Sea Cadets annual inspection went fantastically” says Commanding Officer Lt Cdr (SCC) Jason Kinghorn RNR. The evening was a mixture of formal parade inspections by the units district officer, and also an inspection of the units administrative section, headed by the exceptional David Cottee, without whom the unit would really struggle. The evening was carried out to assess the units level, they are still waiting to hear the results, but are hoping for the top award of burgee status, which only a small handful of units across the UK achieve.

Tewkesbury Sea Cadets embryo unit based at Pershore has had a significant increase in numbers over the past few weeks, this is because of the hard work and effort of the staff and cadets. The staff members at Pershore put in allot of time and effort into the newly developed unit, which is evident in the increasing amount of cadets joining the unit. More are always welcome!!! Pershore unit parade on a Friday and every other Monday at Pershore youth centre, near the swimming pool. Come along between 7 and 9 for more information.

Tewkesbury Sea Cadets Drill team competed at South West Area Drill Competition at HMS Raleigh in Plymouth. Even with severe illnesses, the colour party commander, Able Cadet Harry Griffiths managed to lead the team to an excellent 7th place, which puts them in the top 7.5% of the units across the area. Drill instructors PPO (SCC) James McGhee, and CPO (SCC) Lindsay Harper were delighted with the results, PPO McGhee saying “We have the base of what could be a national wining team, this is just the start!”

Pershore Sea Cadets, a recently opened embryo unit, has begun to attract a high number of young people. They have recently had a number of enrolments, where cadets are officially invited to stay, a ceremony where they receive their uniform, and are then eligible for a variety of national cadet courses. This prestigious ceremony was attended by a variety of dignitaries, one of whom is the Mayor of Pershore.

Although their numbers have recently begun to improve, they still need a number of new people to join in order to get their commissioning pennant, when they will no longer be affiliated to Tewkesbury Sea Cadets. Pershore’s Commanding Officer S/Lt (SCC) S Thomas is pleased with the help he has received from Tewkesbury, but is looking forward to the future where Pershore Sea Cadets will stand on their own two feet.

Tewkesbury Sea Cadets Local Council have very kindly awarded them with a grant to the sum of £40,000. This will go towards a new extension at their headquarters in Trinity Walk, Tewkesbury, which will facilitate new classrooms, offices, and disabled toilets. Commanding Officer Lt Cdr (SCC) Jason Kinghorn was elated, and has big plans for Tewkesbury Sea Cadets in the next year.

Tewkesbury Sea Cadets won at District Drill Competition on 31 January 2010 now go ahead to Area in February.

It was Harry Griffiths first ‘command’ and he was thrilled at the result. Chief Harper was delighted too, as they cadets had been training a for only a few weeks due to very cold weather and the unit being shut over the snow period with bad road conditions causing many unable to get in.

Tewkesbury Colour Party Jan 2010

Back Row:
(Assistant Trainer and Acting Petty Officer) James McGhee
Able Cadet Ashley Macrow
Ordinary Cadet Jordan Nash
Ordinary Cadet Shannon Ashley
(Chief Petty Officer and Drill Instructor) L Harper

Front Row:
Able Cadet Wesley Bodman
(Colour Party Commander) Able Cadet Harry Griffiths

Navy Board Cadet Badge

Six new outstanding Sea Cadets (one for each Area of the Sea Cadet Corps) have been announced as the 2009 Navy Board Cadets. They have taken up office for the year during which they will accompany senior Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel to events in their locality and brief them on issues of importance to the Sea Cadet Corps.

This year’s cadets are: Callum Sills, Nottingham, Eastern Area; Jay Watcham, Walton-on-the-Naze, London Area; Leon Usher, Hartlepool, Northern Area; Beverley Marriette, Huyton with Roby, North West Area; Amanda Irwin, Chichester Harbour & Selsey, Southern Area; and Tristan Cooper, Tewkesbury, South West Area.