Queens Diamond Jubilee Celebrations 4 June 12
07.06.12
With events happening up and down the country to mark the occasion of the Queens’ Diamond Jubilee, the members of Durham ACF could not allow the event to go unmarked.
After months of planning, many adults brought along their families and friends for a Family Fun Day at Stainton Cadet Training Centre, Barnard Castle. Over 300 people attended the day to help mark the occasion…and luckily, we got lovely BBQ weather despite the worrying forecasts earlier in the week.
Whilst the day went without a hitch, it served as a reminder of the hard work that goes into making these events such a success.
D Company were tasked with providing the days entertainment for both adults and their families. As such our guests were treated to a visiting pet farm, including creepy crawlies, snakes and the very popular pair of meerkats. In addition, there was fun for all the family provided in the form of inflatable fun runs, bouncy castles, sumo wrestling and the obligatory rodeo bull. Although, perhaps some of the smaller ones weren’t expecting to have to queue….to let our adults have their fun first! In return however, there was a children disco later on in the day…..surprisingly there were few adults willing to ‘strut their funky stuff.’
However, the day would not have been complete without some ‘military activities’, which went down well with both young and old. Our new air rifles made an appearance and showed us just how well these will suit our smaller cadets. Thanks are also extended to members of our staff who also ran an Archery stand, Paintballing alley and our climbing wall to ensure that there were plenty of activities for everyone.
Whilst these events were the focus of the day time activities, the night time was due to be the pies de resistance!!
It is only fitting at this stage to extend a very special thank you to the cadets and adults from A Company who have worked especially hard over the past months (under the watchful eye of our very own TSA), and even harder in the weekend up to the event to make sure that the evenings events went off with a ‘bang’!
Up and down the county, beacons were lit in celebration of the Jubilee. Our wooden castle turret had been weeks in the making and looked mighty impressive. Although, with the recent damp weather, the big question was would it light? At 10:10 we got our answer when Colonel Chris Tearney got ready to light the beacon from our very own torch….and very impressive it was!
To mark the end of the event, an impressive firework display followed and ensured that the day would be the topic of conversation for a while to come.
We would like to extend our thanks to the outside companies who helped make the day extra special:
- Animal Story
- Auckland Castles
- Reaction Fireworks Ltd
Finally, we would like to extend our thanks to the members of Durham ACF who worked on the day to ensure it was a success.
All in all the day was a huge success and enjoyed by everyone.
Our adult volunteers are often asked to go above and beyond, and very often at the expense of time with their families. Today was our way of saying a huge thank you to the families of our staff, as without your understanding and endless support we would not be able to carry out much of the work we do…
…Simples!
SI Sarah Edgar
