At Littlehampton Harbour we are proud to give our staff up to 5 days of charity leave each year. In the past, several of our team have used these days to allow them to undertake mandatory training as volunteer crew with the Royal National Lifeboat Institute. However, this year our Conservancy Officer Gareth did something a little bit different…
Gareth has been an instructor with the Royal Air Force Air Cadets since 2001 and for the past 14 years he has led a contingent of cadets and staff from East and West Sussex to join the Sea Cadet National Trafalgar Parade in Westminster.
“Since 1896, a naval parade has been held on Trafalgar Square to commemorate Britain’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, and the death of Admiral Lord Nelson on the 21st October 1805.
In more recent years, the honour of orgaizing this parade has been with the Sea Cadet Corps and since 2010, select contingents representing the other MOD-sponsored cadet forces have been privileged to join them” Gareth explains.
“A platoon (or ‘flight’ in RAF terms) of cadets and instructors is invited to march alongside our colleagues from the Sea Cadets, Royal Marines Cadets, Army Cadet Force, and Volunteer Cadet Corps. I started out in 2011 as the RAFAC contingent drill instructor and Flight Senior NCO. Shortly after I was invited to join the small team of Parade Staff – helping to train and coordinate the whole parade.
As you can imagine, a parade of 400 cadets and staff in central London requires a lot of training and rehearsal. It features displays from the Massed Bands of the Sea Cadets, the Physical Training branch display team, and the Sea Cadet Juniors.
We all deploy on the Thursday prior to the parade and spend the next three days working hard to reach the high standards of drill, deportment, and turnout required.
Being allowed to take those two days off from work as charity leave means that I can provide an experience like no other for my cadets. It’s quite an honour representing the RAF family and when they march onto Trafalgar Square, looking sharp in front of their parents and the public, the long days of training, pressing, and polishing are all worth it. Every one of them goes home feeling 10 feet tall.”
“The cadet forces are a fantastic way for young people to develop themselves and to gain experiences that simply can’t be found anywhere else. But it’s not just about the cadets. Being a Cadet Forces Adult Volunteer is not only an extremely rewarding way to contribute to your local community; it also helps you to develop your own skills and experience.
My 20-odd years as an instructor have been fantastic fun and along the way I’ve gained recognised qualifications and a wealth of experience in a whole range of subjects – all of which have directly benefitted me in other areas of my life; Including helping me to land the job here, as Conservancy Officer.”
At Littlehampton Harbour we are proud to support our Armed Forces and Cadets community, and we are very pleased to enable Gareth to undertake his volunteering role with the RAF Air Cadets, especially for an event of this scale. BZ to everyone involved!
