Marine Society & Sea Cadets

16th Royalist Regatta Gets Underway

The Sea Cadet Royalist Regatta, now in its 16th year, sails off Portsmouth on 17 May to raise funds for the charity. Sea Cadets aged 16 -17 are also taking part in this great day of racing Beneteau Oceanis 37’ yachts, supplied by Fairview Sailing.

Eight teams are competing for the Shipwrights’ Trophy, including the Royal Navy. Last year’s winners were Fort Vale Engineering and the event raised over £35,000 for the charity’s work with young people.

Captain Sea Cadets, Captain Mark Windsor RN, says: “This is a chance for some fantastic sailing. With eight yachts and 65 competitors taking part in up to six races in the Solent there will be fierce but friendly competition.”

The event starts with informal races in the Solent with the main race, organised by Royal Thames Yacht Club, taking place on 17 May. Prizes are awarded at the end of the days racing.

Practice races take place on Thursday 16 May. Main racing takes place on Friday 17 May with boats leaving Gunwharf Quays from 8.30am and racing commencing at 10am.

Crews are: Worshipful Company of Acturaies – Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation – Fort Vale Engineering – Royal Navy – Worshipful Compaby of Shipwrights – Worshipful Company of Management Consultants – Sea Cadets, Cowes – Sea Cadets mixed crew

Sea Cadets is a nautical youth charity working with 14,000 cadets across the UK. Whether at sea or on land, the Sea Cadets offers young people an environment where they can find new confidence and inspiration by challenging themselves through nautical adventure and fun for the best possible head start in life.  

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Media Info:  Nicola Russell, media team t: 020 7654 7065 / 07825 364852

Cash Boost for Cornish Cadets

26/04/2013

Cornish Sea Cadets won’t miss out on the chance to get their feet wet this summer with an amazing donation from Western Provident Association (WPA) Benevolent Foundation.

On April 28 at Stithians Lake the Lord Lieutenant for Cornwall and Sarah Newton MP along with foundation representatives will see the results of this as the new boats are blessed and cadets from the five Cornish units - Falmouth & Penryn, Penzance, St Austell, Truro and Padstow - take to the water for their maiden voyage.

WPA BF is making a big commitment to Cornish Sea Cadets over the next five years making sure that 141 local Sea Cadets have access to brand new equipment including three RS Fevas (a two person sailboat), two Topper Dinghies, two Topper Sails, 24 wet suits, 24 spray suits and other equipment needed to operate the vessels.

The donation also allows the Sea Cadets to relocate their main district boating station to Stithians Lake, making access for cadets in the area even better as it’s now all in one place, and as it isn’t tidal it allows cadets to spend even more time on the water. The donation also covers the costs of maintenance, as well as training 117 volunteers who support cadets, plus a cadet bursary scheme so Cornish cadets can go sailing offshore.

Charlie MacEwan director of good causes for the WPA BF;  ‘WPA Benevolent Foundation promotes healthy activity amongst the young and following the Sea Cadets performance at the Jubilee River Pageant last year, we were inspired to evolve a Cornwall project to develop the sailing centre at Stithians Lake and fund scholarships for cadets to experience a voyage offshore.

This project goes beyond the Cornwall's 140 cadets by offering taster sailing days; the more I’ve learnt about Sea Cadets, the more I am in awe of the dedication of their volunteers.’

Sea Cadets would like to say a huge thank you to the WPA Benevolent Foundation for this wonderful donation and commitment of support. It means more young people get the chance to learn new skills and make new friends. Sea Cadets meet each week, taking part in boating activities plus they can go on lots of adventure training courses subsidised by the charity.

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Media contact: Samantha Shaw, MSSC - 020 7654 7006/ 07799657410 sshaw@ms-sc.org

Row the World update

19/04/2013

Sea Cadets row the world in 80 hours challenge to raise funds for a new sail training ship is going from strength to strength.

We’ve had some great reports of rows taking place across the country and news of ones set to start on Saturday and Sunday, when the bulk of the rowing will take off in British Rowing clubs and on the water across the UK.

In the North East over 100 cadets and 26 volunteers are preparing for their combined row on Sunday from 9am – 4.30pm -Ashington, Gosforth, Newcastle East, North Shields, Wallsend, Whitley Bay, Newburn, Jarrow, Hebburn, South Shields, Gateshead, Seaham are taking part. Flitwick and Ampthill and Gloucester are taking to static rowers in their towns too.  Plus in the south we have Sheppey, Folkestone and Hythe, Marlow, and Chiswick. The whole Corps has really got behind this fundraising campaign and showing what we can achieve together.

At Sea Cadet HQ in London, staff are clocking up the miles on static rowers on loan from our partners British Rowing and we’ve got extra support from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines with Hasler Coy, committing to row and 40 Cdo RM Recovery Tp, who’ve already achieved 320 miles on rowing machines to help us reach our target of 24,900 miles around the world!

Our tracker is counting down how many whiles we have to go here

See what Sea Cadets are saying via our facebook page too

Donate to help our cause on our justgiving page here

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Media enquiries: Nicola Russell, t: 07825 364 852/ nrussell@ms-sc.org

Sea Cadets Row the World

18/04/2013

Sea Cadets today launched their national row the world in 80 hours challenge to raise £250,000 for a new sail training ship.

Led by the CEO, 25 chairty staff launched Row the World in 80 hours at 7am from Abingdon in Oxford with a 100 mile row  to London’s Tower Bridge, taking place over four days and completing on Sunday 21 April.

Meanwhile across the country cadets and volunteers from our 400 units are clocking up miles on static rowers at British Rowing clubs to help us reach the target of 24,900 miles around the world in 80 hours and raise £250,000. British Rowing are our partners and thanks to them cadets across the country can help raise money for their new ship.

About 3000 cadets are involved all across the UK and so far over £140k is pledged in donations. Over the last two years the charity has raised  over £4m for a new ship and now it is the final push, the national rowathon is a great way to achieve this.

The Sea Cadets current training ship is over 40 years old and coming to the end of her working life, having taken over 30,000 cadets to sea since her launch in 1971. Sea Cadets wants to make sure we can keep giving all cadets the chance of a voyage at sea.

Keep track of the Row the Worlds progress here

To show your support please donate here! 

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Media enquiries: Nicola Russell, t: 07825 364 852/ nrussell@ms-sc.org

Royal Visit for Sea Cadets

04/04/2013

A new outdoor centre for young people in Scotland opens on 5 April, with a royal visit by His Royal Highness Prince Charles, accompanied by his son and daughter in law, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Their Royal Highnesses are being welcomed by young people from various uniformed youth organisations, all members of the Youth United network.  The opening ceremony is a chance for each of them to showcase their talents and compete in an obstacle race. A flypast of three Typhoons of 6 Squadron RAF Leuchars will complete the display.

Richard Vernon, Deputy Lieutenant of Ayrshire and Arran and representing the Lord Lieutenant as Chairman of Youth United Ayrshire says;

“This wonderful new facility is a lasting legacy to young people in the area for generations to come. Having the space and the freedom to learn, explore and take part in team activities is vital to the development of social skills and for nurturing a sense of community. We are grateful to the Manoukian family whose generous support helped this centre to be built. And we’re delighted that His Royal Highness The Duke of Rothesay has recognised the value that youth organisations have in promoting health, wellbeing and success in our young people.”

 Martin Coles, CEO of MSSC (parent organisation of Sea Cadets) says;

“Sea Cadets know that working together gets results and creates opportunities for even more young people.  The opening of this new outdoor centre at Dumfries House shows that, and we’re really proud to have been part of this Youth United initiative. The results are a place where young people can learn new skills, work with others and go away with a great experience they can build on - week in week out for years to come.”

Nicola Brentnall, Director of The Queen’s Silver Jubilee Trust said;

“The Queen’s Silver Jubilee Trust is delighted to help Youth United charities in Ayrshire to come together at Dumfries House in order to undertake useful projects for others. We look forward to hearing news of the projects as they are developed and take place over the course of the coming year.”

Rod Jarman from Youth United said;

“Youth United brings together established and successful youth organisations under one banner to promote the benefits of membership and volunteering. The support of a number of partners means we can give more young people the opportunities to come to places like this where they will have the chance to learn valuable skills that will travel with them throughout their lives.”

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Media contact: Samantha Shaw, 02076547006  sshaw@ms-sc.org