Hucknall Air Cadets receive £500 council grant to purchase fieldcraft equipment after being recognised as the best local squadron

Hucknall Air Cadets has received a council grant allowing it to add fieldcraft to the number of extensive activities that it offers.

The donation of £500 came from the County Council Divisional funds of two Hucknall councillors.

Councillor Lee Waters (Hucknall South) and Councillor Dave Shaw (Hucknall West) both of whom are Ashfield Independents represent two of the three Hucknall Wards on Nottinghamshire County Council.

Councillor Waters said: "It is a privilege to be able to present a cheque today to the Air Cadets, from both Cllr Shaw's and my Nottinghamshire County Council Divisional funds.

"The reason why I wanted to make this donation is that my late grandfather was in the Royal Air Force, he was a gunner on a Lancaster Bomber and my father worked in a factory in aviation.

"So, for me this is giving back to local people those who love aviation, action and adventure."

The money has been used to purchase equipment to enable the cadets to practice the skills required by military personnel when living out in a field environment. This includes building shelters, cooking outdoors, sleeping out and concealing themselves in a wooded environment.

Speaking exclusively to Hucknall Nub News, Flt Lt Liam Vernon, who heads up 1803 squadron, said: "We're very fortunate here, we've got the area, we've now got staff who have got some experience of this and more importantly the qualifications. We were just lacking the equipment to be able to do it and offer it to cadets and fortunately our two local councillors have bridged that gap for us.

"It is the missing piece, and it will make so much difference. It's something else we can add to our training programme that isn't classroom based, it's outside, young people love that."

The squadron, based on the Rolls Royce site just off Watnall Road, currently boasts 50 cadets aged between 12 and 18, its highest at any point over the last five years. There is also a full intake of new starters ready to join in October.

Photo Credit: Tom Surgay.

Asked if he thought this was down to young people wanting to try something new following the lockdowns and restrictions put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic, Flt Lt Vernon said: "I think there's an element of that. I also think that the cadets here and the parents here can see the benefit of a supportive engaging squadron and they see what they're getting and their skills and experiences that they simply won't do anywhere else in one place. We don't advertise, we just rely on people coming to us to say I'd like to join."

As well as encouraging numbers and new equipment the Hucknall squadron was recently awarded best squadron in the local area.

Flt Lt Vernon said: "This year we've been recognised as the best squadron on the Trent Wing, that's 27 squadrons and there's a whole host of parameters around what makes a squadron good.

"We have a quarterly inspection regime by a squadron leader, and we then have a Wing Commander who comes once a year to inspect us.

"What they're looking for is what are the facilities and activities that we're offering to cadets, are they achieving those? For example we're quite committed here to The Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme and most of our cadets are doing one level of that award. Then there's all sorts of other badgework that they can do and the Wing gets to see everything that a squadron does so it's the whole package really, not only have you got lots of numbers but are you delivering a quality product for those young people and how is that being shown?

"It's no mean feat, I'm immensely proud. Proud in the staff team that I've got because it isn't about one person so the staff team that I've got that come every night and support the cadets, the civilian committee so a committee of parents who come and work tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure that we have the money to do the activities that we want to do and they support the squadron very well.

"And the cadets who have participated in the activities without that we wouldn't get that recognition. We have a strong Cadre of more senior cadets, 16, 17, 18 years, who have perhaps been here for four or five years who on a squadron night are the ones really that deliver a big part of the programme as well. That is our offer to some of the older cadets you're hitting the age where you're looking for work, looking for accommodation, thinking about university, what skills do you need and it isn't the same set of skills that a 13 year old needs. They need that leadership, management, instruction, responsibility.

"Two or three years ago we were recognised as a squadron that was really on the up and up was improving in every aspect of what we were doing, and got that recognition, and three years later we've reached our pinnacle for the Wing to say you are the best performing squadron."

As the squadron continues to grow and develop, they are on the lookout for more adult volunteers to help and support with their activities.

"We're happy to talk to any person over the age of 20 who thinks that they've got the time and passion to engage with young people. Not all of our staff have got military experience quite a few have got previous cadet experience so they've got some knowledge but that isn't a pre-requirement either, it's quite a broad range of people that we've got.

"Where the air cadets is really good is providing adults with the opportunity to develop. The way it's moving, we're very technologically driven now so we're looking at space, cyber, STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) they're all key skills that the RAF require going forward and we need adults to help with that."

For more information about the cadets or to volunteer to help, click here or email [email protected].