Manor opens the doors!

Many of our cadets spend a considerable amount of their spare time at detachment – it’s a real community, and it can feel like a second family. So to help parents and other family members get a real taste of what we do on a parade night, as well as learn about camps, community engagement and more about the full cadet experience, Manor Top recently welcomed 45 family members to join us on a parade night. Many families are new to the ACF, with a large number of cadets having joined the detachment in September. It was great to be able to spend more time with them, and to celebrate many of the achievements of the cadets over the last year.

We started the evening with the Winter Camp Drill Team demonstrating their routine, and they again gave a stellar performance – all their hard work, discipline and passion really showed. Cpl Boden led the squad and her Dad was particularly bemused to discover she has such a strong drill voice! Detachment 2Lt Kate Jackson then gave a presentation to everyone, running through many of our highlights over the last year and looking ahead to future opportunities for the cadets, and explaining why we train in the way we do. A number of our cadets did themselves and the detachment proud by talking about their experiences in front of the whole group of 75!

LCpl Barratt-Jones said, ‘It was really good to be able to show our families more about our detachment life I was proud to be able to show off our drill competition routine. I enjoyed the interactions with visitors and it was an achievement to be able to stand up and talk in front of so many people, and even deal with technical hitches’.

We enjoyed being able to chat to our guests over the refreshment break, with some particularly delicious muffins provided by Cadet Jasicka’s Mum, who commented that ‘its been really inspiring to see young people thriving, overcoming their fears and sharing their success stories with all of us’.

Then our families had the chance to take part in some hands on activities to really see what our cadets experience themselves in their training. They received some expert tuition in drill from Sergeant Instructor David Turner, and cadets appreciated seeing some budding (and not so budding) attempts at coming to attention and standing at ease from their families. With support from Captain Ron Williams, Company Training Officer, families and cadets had an introduction to the Air Rifle including building up a firing position and carrying out NSPs. The final stand was led by Cadet Corporal Boden and Cadet Lance Corporal Barratt-Jones to talk about the journey and role of an NCO.

Parent John-Paul Milnes said that ‘I found the evening very informative and insightful on what the cadets do. Also it was great for the cadets to show us the achievements they have gained and goals they are striving for’

CFAV and families really enjoyed being able to spend a little more time together than usual, and hope that this will build our detachment community further. We’re looking forward running future events so perhaps in the summer we’ll be able to throw in some field craft opportunities for visitors to take part in.