W Company

Alnwick and Broomhill Detachments have just returned from a successful week's ski trip in Samoens, France. 

Ten cadets from Alnwick and four from Broomhill along with Staff Sergeants Ralph Brown and Becky Matthewson attended the trip, raising funds at various events throughout the year.

The trip was a great success, with a mix of cadets having some experience, to absolute beginners. By the end of the week all cadets were skiing from Samoens, right across the mountains to the villages of Morillon and Les Carroz and off-pisting along great runs such as the Marvel, the Dahu and the Sairon.

Lt Lister and the Rothbury cadets head out on their trip to Samoens on March 6th, where they will also be looking to have a great time.

Members of the ski party are pictured below (from L to R): L/Cpl Mark Newson, S/Sgt Michael Sargent, L/Cpl Will Young, L/Cpl Mark Robertson, L/Cpl Kevin Straughan, Cdt Lydia  Donaldson, L/Cpl Joe Pendrich, L/Cpl Ed Inkster, L/Cpl Luke Wintrip, Cdt Kate Netherwood, L/Cpl Meg Straker, Cdt Emily Brunton, L/Cpl Ellie Tribe & L/Cpl Callum Turnbull.

Further photos of the trip will appear in Alnwick's photo gallery shortly.

Four cadets from Belford Detachment recently took part in the Northumbria ACF annual First Aid Competition at the Cadet Training Centre, Otterburn Camp.

The weekend involved the cadets honing their skills during several realistic training scenarios before battling against some of the finest first aiders in the County. They were under the watchful eye of their Detachment Commander, SI John Grey.

Fellow W Company member SI John Rollo provided some horrendous simulated injuries, which were so realistic that cadets recoiled in terror when they saw them.

The Belford team managed to come a very creditable second place, behind last year's Regional champions from Y Company.

Thanks to all the cadets and staff involved for their hard work leading up to and during the event.

Team members (Cpl Craig Holman, LCpl Becky Riseborough, LCpl Megan Smith and Cdt Hannah Parkin) are seen preparing for the competition below.

Starting from Tuesday, 2nd March 2010 Alnwick Detachment will parade on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Parade night timings, 1900 - 2100 hrs, remain unchanged.

The Detachment will continue to operate split training groups on different nights, so cadets are advised to check which night they should be attending.

Fifteen W Company cadets have successfully completed the St John Ambulance Youth First Aid course after an intensive weekend of training.

The new first aiders are:
LCpl Edward Inkster (Alnwick)
LCpl Calum Turnbull (Alnwick)
LCpl Will Young (Alnwick)
Cdt Rachel Ker (Alnwick)
Cdt Ben Rutherford (Alnwick)
Cdt Shaun Shepherd (Broomhill)
Cdt Mark Robertson (Broomhill)
Cdt Lydia Donaldson (Broomhill)
Cdt Joe Miller (Broomhill)
Cdt Josh Truman (Broomhill)
LCpl James Scott (Amble)
Cdt Tim Hamilton (Amble)
Cdt Piers Barber (Rothbury)
Cdt Hayden Power (Rothbury)
Cdt Greg Mason (Rothbury)

SI John Rollo of Amble Detachment provided some realistic casualty simulation, which the cadets used to hone their practical skills.

LCpl Will Young, pictured below, gets to grips with a nasty open fracture.

As most of you will have seen our part of Northumberland is suffering badly due to the snow.

Nearly all the schools in Northumberland have been closed for several days and many back roads are deep in snow. There's no let up in the weather in sight for the next week at least.

At the moment all of our Detachments plan to open as normal next week, but we advise non-local cadets (who live too far to walk to their Detachment) to stay at home during the current snowy/icy spell.

If there are any last minute changes we will publish them here so stay tuned. It might be an idea to check here before you set off to your Detachment.

W Company's Company Sergeant Major, SMI Peter Lawrence, has just been awarded the Cadet Forces Medal for his service with the Army Cadet Force.

SMI Lawrence, who was appointed CSM W Coy in July 2009, came to us after several years of regular service with the Royal Tank Regiment. He cut his teeth with Surrey ACF before moving to Northumbria ACF in 2003.

The medal is awarded for 12 years reckonable service, which is no mean feat to achieve!

The Company congratulates SMI Lawrence on his achievement.

Cadets from Berwick Detachment are coming to the end of a mammoth six months of fundraising in support of forces charity Help For Heroes.

Back in April three of our cadets - Cpl Greg Hogarth, Cdt Nathan Jerdan and Cdt Connor Armstrong - hit on the idea of raising a few hundred quid towards this very noble cause. With the help of Debra Jerdan of Berwick Youth Project, Lt Keith Marchant their ACF Detachment Commander and Tony Brown of the Royal British Legion they set about gathering public support for their fundraising efforts.

The lads' fundraising frenzy culminated in a coffee morning in the town's Guildhall, which saw their total shoot to well over £6,000. This event was well supported by many local businesses but a special mention has to go to Haggerston Castle Holiday Park, who donated the four main raffle prizes, hosted a car boot sale and whose enthusiastic staff participated in a number of different fundraising events.

Army cadets from Berwick and Duns took part in a sponsored overnight 25 mile walk around Berwick's historic town walls and organised collections in several shops and pubs around the area.

With sponsor money still trickling in the grand total could top £7,000 - a tremendous effort by all those involved.

Further coverage appears in the Berwick Advertiser.

Around 80 cadets from north-Northumberland spent last weekend (23-25 Oct 09) on expedition and adventurous training up at Otterburn and Kielder.

The expedition group, boasting some 40 cadets, trekked from Ottercops and Alwinton to Grassleas on the very southern edge of Otterburn Training Area.

Despite the very arduous weather conditions en-route all the expedition cadets managed to reach their objective relatively unscathed. They settled down for a damp and blustery night under canvas, which was slightly offset by the comfort food in their ration packs.

The remaining junior cadets in camp spent Saturday at the Hawkhirst Activity Centre where they took part in bell boating. As well as getting to grips with their unfamiliar vessels the cadets had plenty of time for races and splashing about... as if they weren't wet enough anyway! A little bit of rain and fatigue wasn't enough to dampen anyone's spirits and the cadets left beaming after the day's adventure.

Our big thanks go to Major Kev Stout and SSI Angie Wilson for supervising the bell boats and Captain Michael Grey for organising the expedition.

The weekend was also an important milestone in the cadet careers of Cdt Sgt Michael Sargent of Alnwick Detachment and Cdt LCpl Greg Hogarth of Berwick Detachment. Michael was promoted to Cdt S/Sgt and Greg to Cdt Cpl. Our good wishes to them both.

Next W Company weekend is 5-6 December 09, probably at Alnwick. Standby for further updates.

-TJJ

A quick reminder of events over the next month or so:
- Regional swimming, Hull, 19 Sept 09
- Minden Coy training, CTC Otterburn, 25-27 Sept 09
- Colts Canter, Strensall, 2-4 Oct 09
- SCIC, CTC Otterburn, 10-18 Oct 09
- W Coy weekend, CTC Otterburn, 23-25 Oct 09
For further info about any of these speak to your DC.

Cadets from Alnwick Detachment were out in force today to support the annual Alnwick Gardens Duck Race.

The race, in support of the Grace House North East children's hospice, saw some 36,000 brightly coloured rubber ducks travelling down the Garden's Grand Cascade over a three hour period.

SSI Ralph Brown, Detachment Commander and big kid at heart, couldn't resist taking a dip in the cascade too.

More photos in the Detachment's Photo Gallery.