FAAOA donation to Forest of Dean Sea Cadets

FOREST OF DEAN SEA CADET CORPS

I had the privilege in mid May to visit the Forest of Dean Sea Cadet unit in Lydney, Glos, to deliver a generous cheque of £500 from the FAAOA to the unit.  

I happened to be en route north in uniform at the time with an RAF colleague of mine and I am delighted to report that the banter towards the ‘light blue’ is clearly instilled at an early stage. 

We spent the whole evening at the unit which included a full tour of the buildings, meeting cadets and staff and witnessing Evening Colours. 

There is huge enthusiasm from the staff and cadets, clearly lead from the front by the CO, Lt Mike Chard RNR and the Committee Chair Mrs Carol Tiley, who are both passionate about the unit and obviously put a vast amount of personal time and effort into making the place tick.  The unit infrastructure is good and they are making some very clever use of space which includes an old school building and a portakabin.  Running costs are essentially borne by the unit but again they have some good ideas and plans with how to reduce their expenses. 

The FAAOA donation will be matched by unit funds to purchase a canoe and kayak trailer which will make a huge difference to how they manage moving their boats around, it currently has to be done piece meal which wastes a lot of time when the cadets could be on the water.      

Being back in a Sea Cadet unit after very many years was a delightful experience for me, and it always nice to be a bearer of good news.  I am confident that the FAAOA money will be spent wisely and used to very good effect. 

Cdr Geoff Bowker RN

Link to Sea Cadets website