Royal Surprise for Lesotho Cadets
6 April 2010
Prince Harry gave 60 teenage cadets a day to remember when he paid a surprise visit to their training session in the Brecon Beacons. The 60 specially-selected cadets were participating in a day-long trek as part of the final preparations for a unique expedition they are undertaking this summer to Lesotho in southern Africa, where they will volunteer with Prince Harry’s charity, Sentebale, working with orphans and vulnerable children.
A former cadet himself, Prince Harry is patron of the expedition to Lesotho, organised as part of Cadet150, a year of celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the cadet movement. The Prince joined the amazed cadets as they walked back into base camp where they all chatted over tea. He wished them well for this summer’s adventure and thanked them for supporting his charity.
During the three-week expedition, the cadets will undertake an arduous and spectacular trek through the Drakensburg Mountains, at heights of up to 3,000m, where temperatures drop dramatically at night and snow is common. They will enjoy a range of adventure training activities such as rock-climbing and extreme abseiling, including the opportunity to undertake the longest commercial abseil in the world. They will also participate in tours of historic military sites, such as the 1879 Zulu War battlefield sites at Rorke’s Drift and Isandlwana, as well as the Boer War site of Spion Kop. The final stage of this life-changing trip will involve them working on Sentebale development projects and sampling life with the young indigenous children in Lesotho.
The cadet movement represents some 131,000 young people in the UK. Cadets from every corner of the country undertook a gruelling selection weekend for the Lesotho expedition last July at which the final list of 60 was agreed. While central fundraising has taken place to cover some of the costs of the expedition, each cadet has had to find £1,000 through their own efforts in order to participate.
The Cadet150 year of celebrations kicked off in style on 17 February 2010 when HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh welcomed 26 cadet ambassadors to an audience at Buckingham Palace. The royal family will also be central to the largest Cadet150 event this July, when over 1,500 cadets parade down the Mall before joining their parents, cadet force adult volunteers and VIP guests for a garden party at Buckingham Palace.
Other Cadet150 events throughout 2010 include expeditions to locations as diverse as the Himalayas, Nigeria, the Italian Dolomites, Peru, the USA and Kenya as well as Lesotho; a special residential camp for cadets participating in The Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Award; and the planting of 150,000 trees in partnership with the Woodland Trust.
With origins dating back to 1860, the cadet movement is one of the oldest and most successful voluntary youth organisations in the world. Today it numbers 131,000 young people, led by 25,000 adult volunteers, in well over 3,000 sites across the country.
The Cadet Forces are about fun and opportunity in a positive, structured environment that encourages the development of leadership and teamwork, initiative, self-confidence, self-discipline and a sense of responsibility. They welcome young people and adults from all backgrounds and abilities. No cadets or adult volunteers will ever be called upon for duty with the Armed Forces, and whilst some cadets do choose to follow a career in the Armed Forces, the Cadet Forces are not used as a recruiting opportunity.
Colonel Michael Kingscote, Managing Director of Outposts Ltd, designed the expedition which will be led by former Royal Marine Colonel Nick Arding and his wife Philippa.