Royal British Legion Visit to Newmarket Detachment

All Cambridgeshire Army Cadet Detachments have connections with the Royal British Legion (RBL) through Remembrance Day parades and collecting for the Poppy Appeal. Some Detachments have an especially close connection, and achieve an official affiliation, recognised by a special badge worn by cadets. This affiliation includes the RBL visiting the Detachment and mutually supporting each other at a variety of events throughout the year. On 28^th February, members of the RBL visited one of their affiliated Detachments, Newmarket, to meet the cadets and tell them more about what they do.

The RBL was formed in 1921, bringing together different veterans groups that had formed after the First World War. From the beginning, its objective was to support veterans of Britain’s Armed Forces by fundraising, including through the Poppy Appeal, and promoting Remembrance to ensure the sacrifices of our service personnel are never forgotten. These values and objectives are shared by the Army Cadet Force, and both organisations are proud to support each other.

The RBL visit to Newmarket started with Paul Greenwood, Chairman of the Newmarket and District Branch, setting the cadets a series of tasks to research (via the internet) the answers to a series of questions designed to help the cadets better understand the RBL and what it does. This included researching the origins of the organisation, the services it provides, and finding out about the different roles available to its members. Having answered these questions, the cadets then had to present their answers to the rest of the detachment. This proved to be a successful way of engaging the cadets and helping them practice important presentation and public speaking skills.

Other RBL members took the opportunity to chat to the cadets and find out more about them, and what sort of careers they are considering.

RBL Standard Bearer Sheila Jeffery showed the RBL standard, and explained the symbolism of its different elements. She also talked about the high standards of turn out expected from a RBL Standard Bearer.

Cadet Sergeant Miles said: ‘its been a better look into the RBL, and helped us better understand how they help service members, and also better understand the opportunities you can gain from being in the RBL’.

Paul Greenwood said: ‘They are a great bunch of cadets. Cadets from across the different services raised £16,000 for the Poppy Appeal in the Newmarket area last year, and Newmarket Army cadets have done very well with support for Remembrance also.’

Text and photos by SI Doug Stuart