Reports on the events during 2006 mainly since the web site was set up.

Pre November

RIAT
The band with the Duke of Kent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November   4th
14 cadets attended the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at De Montfort Hall. The cadets helped with the selling of poppies flags and escorting VIP's to their seats.

Cadets enjoyed the concert provided by the Band of the Royal Marines   Portsmouth and particularly the WW2 sing-a-long, the highlight being a spirited rendition of Land of Hope and Glory (hence the flag selling).

November   4 & 5
An   NCO Development course was run at the Squadron and attended by 7 NCO's. The course was devised and run by Flt Lt Standish and sought to address many issues affecting the NCO's and the Squadron. Some thought provoking discussions took place and action plans prepared which when put in place should lead to an even more vibrant and successful squadron.

November 11th
23 cadets helped out at the   Leicester City FC Poppy   Match, forming a 'poppy' guard of   honour for the players, poppy selling and accompanying   ex servicemen when they walked round the pitch at half time.

November Quiz
Red Flight won the   interflight 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire Quiz'.

November Debate
Sgt Helen Greaves   proposed the motion that 'Blue Flight Believes the Environment Comes First' and   skilfully put forward her strong arguments.   Cdt Rob   Edwards led Red flight in speaking against the motion with a set of facts and figures that left the audience gasping. A strongly contested debate followed with some excellent points, several not without a sprinkling of humour, which saw   Red Flight win on the narrowest of margins.

November - Build a Tower

 

First we had to design our   tower some of us did it   properly, others didn't bother. It had to be made out of cardboard tubes, straws, and cellotape. Points were awarded for height and strength. Then we had to build it and finally submit it to the height measurement and weight bearing test. The tin was full of bolts and was indeed heavy.
Sgt Tomlinson's team won overall with   Sgt Goddard's     team providing the most interesting design
   

December   1st - Annual Dining in Night
I have never been to a formal dinner before, and I didn’t think that this one would be very exciting but it was really good fun!  and the food was awesome.
In between courses we had party poppers and Christmas crackers, which made it interesting!
At the end there was a prize giving where some cadets got awards like Cadet of the Year, and Best Attendance, and many more.   These were presented by the Commandant Air Cadet’s Chief of Staff, who was a Group Captain.  Even though I didn't win anything, I had a great time and am looking forwards to next year!
Cdt Matt Nicholson 

The NCO Team

December   2nd - Potential   NCO Course
8 Cadets assembled at the   HQ for the Potential NCO Course to be held over the weekend. The course was run by Flt Lt Standish and A Sgt Smith   and included   leadership theory and   practice, drill theory and practice,   communications, role of an NCO, discipline and welfare. Perhaps it wasn't the best of ideas to have it after the dining-in as some of the staff looked a bit bleary eyed. The course provided valuable guidance to the cadets some of who realised that staying up all   Saturday night was not best preparation for the work on Sunday.

Dec15 - Edale
27 Cadets plus 8 staff drove up the motorway early Friday evening for the now traditional Christmas Walking weekend.
The journey for the early departing vehicles was fraught with difficulties. Firstly heavy traffic on the motorway forced a diversion onto the A6 and travelling through Derby the driver nearly lost his way. Then we learned an RTA had blocked the main road and we took to the side roads. The passengers were convinced the driver had lost his way but being BELA qualified this would never happen and soon they were back on familiar roads.

A day in the hills on Saturday, when we nearly got blown off the top at Mam Tor by the strong winds, was followed by a traditional Christmas dinner and games.

Sunday was a half day walk up Win Hill. Fortunately the weather was sunny and we were able to enjoy the fantastic views over Ladybower and the valleys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 A group at the top of Win Hill

 Some cadets comments
Cdt Hannah Williams
Two mini buses and one van with all the equipment drove up to Edale. I was on the later one and we eventually arrived at the camping barn an hour after the first bus after a long journey.
We woke very early on the Saturday (it was not a good idea to spend all night talking!) and after a full English breakfast we got ready for the days hill walking. I had never done any camp until I joined cadets and was my fourth but I had never done any real hill walking. It was a shock when we had to start the day by climbing the biggest hill I've ever seen (and that's not an exaggeration). I had to stop several times and the only thing that kept me going was being 'force fed' hobnobs and sweets by Helen, Amy and Griff. Thankfully when we got to the top it was mainly flat walking from then on.
One of the best parts of the walk for me was being pretty much blown off a big mountain, it took about five of us to keep each other on the ground and not get blown away.
That night after a full Christmas Dinner we played lots of games like Jenga and some music.
On Sunday we had another shorter walk and we met the other groups on top of another big hill! After lunch we packed up and cleaned the centre before setting off home.
I had a great weekend and I hope to go again for the next few Christmas Camps to come.

Cadet Chloe Finlay
Edale was a very funny and interesting camp to go on. We did all sorts of activities, including walking. On Saturday we went for quite a long hill walk with a stop for refreshments on the way back which allowed us to catch up with the tales from the other gorups. In the evening the games we fun even if some were a bit emabarrasing. Overall it was funny to see everyone play silly games even the staff joined in some of them. On Sunday we went walking in different groups so we could interact with different people. It wasn't a very long walk but still just as enjoyable. Overall I enjoyed the trip thoroughly, and hope to go again next year.

Cdt Will Goddard
Before the walks we had done some theory on how to map read but it was all about how to put it into practice. We went walking on the Saturday and I was really proud of myself - I could follow our position on the map nearly all the time. Several times I was asked to lead the group, which pleasantly surprised me. I enjoyed it a lot and look forward to future cadet camps.

Dec 20 - Final Parade of the Year

Our final meet of the year and the usual disco and karaoke, although not so much karaoke as usual. See you all next year on Jan 3rd, and don't forget it is Top Gun evening.