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2009 Poppy Collection.
Surrey Cadets have broken all previous records for collections for the British Legion Poppy Appeal in 2009. 50 units entered the Lord Lieutenant's Poppy Apeal Competition and at a special event held at Charterhouse School on 3rd March, TS Queen Charlotte cadets were mentioned as raising the most of all the Sea Cadets who entered. Our collections were held at Tesco's, B&Q, Homebase and Sainsbury's Burpham and sone £1980 was collected. An article in the Surrey Advertiser covered the event.
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New Boatshed
Work is progressing well on the new boatshed with the demolition of the old wooden structure and construction work on foundation and floor and erection of the new metal structure. Completion of the internal racking, external blockwork and cosmetic detail is underway. Painting of the floor slab will take place later in the year when it has fully dried out. We expect to complete the project by the end of March 2010. The opening ceremony is planned for 15th April to be undertaken by the Mayor of Guildford.
We wish to thank those who have supported us in turning our aspiration into reality in particular the Peter Harrison Foundation , Rear Admiral Sir Donald Gosling, The Thornton Foundation, Connaught Drill Halls Trust, Spencer Wills Trust, Pamela Champion Foundation and Councillor Sarah di Caprio for their generous support.
The original boatshed, second hand some 30 years ago, was adapted and extended over the years to accommodate an ever increasing demand for boats/canoes and river activities. As well as our own canoes and kayaks we house other canoes and their associated equipment for the use of these other Sea Cadets units plus additional youth organisations.
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Dates for your Diary
15th April 2010 Opening of the New Boathouse.
8th May 2010 High Street Collections.
26 June 2010 Cadet 150 Parade and Canoe Race at Godalming.
19 July 2010 RN Parade.
15-20 August 2010 Summer Camp at Weymouth.
6 October 2010 RM Band Concert at Guildford Cathedral
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National Canoe Award for Kevin Tidbury
Kevin Tidbury has won a national award for his contribution to canoeing. Kevin was named Male Coach of 2009 at the Canoe England Volunteer & Recognition Awards. The volunteer won praise at the ceremony for his work with Surrey Police in giving youngsters aged 10 to 14 the opportunity to try canoeing as a confidence builder.
He said “The awards evening was really good and well organised. It was good to see and meet so many coaches and volunteers.” He decided to become a coach at 18 after kayaking as a child. “Building the confidence of young kids and seeing them come out of their shell is an amazing feeling,” he added. “That is why I coach, that feeling and seeing someone go from scared to running white water, or seeing them coach a group of kids is like no other feeling you can get.”
The Volunteer & Recognition Awards, now in their third year, celebrate the contributions of volunteers to canoeing. More than 200 volunteers attended the ceremony at Wyboston Lakes Conference Centre in Bedfordshire on Saturday January 17.
See the full article in the Guildford Times.
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Surrey District Boatwork Weekend
A very successful "Boatwork" weekend was held at Guildford 17/18th October with some 40 cadets & 20 instructors coming from 8 of the 9 Surrey District Units. Various activities took place including power boating, kayaking, First Aid and Seamanship training and a drill course. It is planned to put on three similar courses next year.
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Seafarers RM Band Concert 15th October
A wonderful night was enjoyed on 15th October by a full house at Guildford Cathedral for the Seafarers Royal Marine Band Concert provided by musicians from HM Royal Marine Band Portsmouth. Many thanks to the Officers & Cadets from Guildford who provided invaluable help including the sale of programmes & raffle tickets
The event is held on behalf of the Guilford Branch of Seafarers UK, the new name for King George’s Fund for Sailors which has helped seafarers and ex seafarers since 1917. Seafarers UK is an umbrella charity that gives grants to other charities. By seafarer we mean someone who is, or once was, in the Royal Navy, Merchant Navy or fishing fleets. It also give grants to charities that help seafarers’ families, including widows and children. The need has increased in recent years and Seafarers UK is only able to fund about 60% of its requests and with recent conflicts – Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan etc continuing to take its toll of maritime personnel the need is increasing rather than decreasing.
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Trophies & Awards
Nick Patrick is off to Cambridge to read Economics. He received the Lord Lieutenant's Award from the Area Officer in December 08.
Guildford Unit have been awarded the Cock of the District Trophy for the most improved unit in the District for 2008.
We have also been awarded the Tim Bourne Trophy for the unit who has gained the most points in District competitions throughout the year (2008).
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Navy News Online
Go to our Links page and follow the link to view the latest Navy News. A great resource.
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Visit by Captain of the Corps
On Sept 7th we were very pleased to welcome Captain Mark Windsor to his first visit to a Southern Area Unit, accompanied by the Southern Area Officer Cdr Andy Giles. Capt Windsor presented the Unit with a Burgee for 2009, that is we are in the top 25% of Units. The Review, carried out in July, showed a continued improvement on previous years.
Take a look at the Picture Gallery.
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2009 Summer Camp at HMS Caledonia
Take a look at the photographs in the Picture Gallery.
Book now for the 2010 camp next August which will be at at Weymouth
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Southern Area Kayaking 12 July 09
Guildford cadets were successful at the Area Kayaking event at Reading on July 12th.
PO Cdt Ed Jenkins & A/C Ed Deverall won gold in senior doubles sprint & marathon and now will go on to Nationals.
L/H Matt Hannaford came 6th in the senior marathon
well done to the three from Guildford who represented for Surrey District.
See photos in the picture gallery.
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Street Collections
The collection at the Tesco Guildford Store in July raised £614. Many thanks to those who gave their time and cash. Watch this space for the next collection which we hope will be at Sainsburys
Our street collection on 31st May raised £324 which considering it was Half Term, Cup Final Day and the town was virtually empty was a good effort by all concerned.
Thanks to Godalming Waitrose who have just donated £320 following their "token vote" in March.
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New Chaplain of our Unit
We welcome Rev Chris Luckraft as our Unit Chaplain. He has a Fleet Air Arm and Naval Chaplain background and is the Rector of St John the Evangelist, Merrow.
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Visiting Units
We welcomed Huddersfield Unit to Guildford when they made use of our facilities for 3 days over a weekend in August.
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RN Workparty Outreach to the Community Project at Guildford
Guildford formed the pilot study for the Royal Navy to assess what can be done by a small RN workparty in a Unit. In preparation a Naval Base Liaison Officer together with representatives of BVT (Health & Safety Surveyor) looked at our list of needs (as identified in the recent HQ Baseline Survey) to see what human resources they could provide. A party of seven came between Monday 11 - Thursday 14 May 09 when work was carried out on the Trimmer Hall, the boatshed and a classroom. On Monday we were given a presentation about the Royal Navy Today/Maritime Opportunities/’My life in the Royal Navy’ and another by Matthew Sheldon Head of Curatorial Department Royal Naval Museum Portsmouth on the role of sailors from Guildford at the Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805).
The Unit is grateful for all the help provided and valuable feedback on our experience has been provided which we hope will be of assistance to the RN for future Work Parties to other Sea Cadet Units.
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PSA Fundraising - 90 Club
The P&SA “90 Club” is a monthly draw which costs just £1 a month to enter – and a better chance of a win than the National Lottery! There 100 numbers to choose from and a draw for winning numbers made each month - top prize £10. Please sign up and support this new fundraising initiative.
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Miscelaneous Items
Congratulations to our CO
Congratulations go to Sub Lt Colin Whitear, who was awarded the Cadet Forces Medal.
Cadet150
Cadet 150 will be a celebration of 150 years of Cadet Forces in 2010. This is being co-ordinated at District level and there will be various events and activities planned. On 26 June the is a Parade and Canoe Race at Godalming.
Local Hero Awards
Two of our staff members, Leah Ashcroft and Kevin Buckley, are preparing for a trip to South Africa this October as a reward for their dedicated voluntary work, including organising trips to Lourdes for disabled children. Leah is our 1st Lieutenant and has been with the unit for some 28 years. They were presented with their Local Hero Awards by the Chief Executive of Sainsburys at a ceremony in London this May.
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Mayor's Visit
Mike Nevins, the Mayor of Guildford, visited the Unit in March 2008 and Councillor Jennifer Jordan accompanied by Councillor Pauline Searle in October 08. We thank them for taking he time to show interest in our cadets.
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District Colour Party
Well done to the Colour Party who won the District competition on 9th March 2008 and who took part in the Area Competition in Portsmouth.
Congratulations also go to L/C Nick Patrick and Cdt Connor Fuller for their first and fourth places in the piping competition.
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