Presentation Evening 2018

Posted on July 19th, 2018 by WO Lyons

As a Squadron, our staff and cadets have had a very busy year, and what better way to celebrate than our annual Presentation Evening. Cadets, with their parents, guardians and friends visited the Squadron on 2nd July to see the cadets presented with their certificates and trophies they have achieved over the year since July 2017.

The night started with the cadets and Squadron band taking part in a march past and inspection by the OC and our visiting guest, Councillor Jane Potter. Following this some of the Cadet NCO’s delivered a presentation on all the activities the Squadron has taken part in, along with some of their highlights.

4 new cadets are enrolled by the Padre

The Squadron then welcomed 4 of our new cadets formally, followed by a presentation from our Squadron Padre, Rev Stephen Levitt. Cdt Grace Sherwood was then the first to receive her award, decided upon by the cadet NCO’s, she was awarded the Padres’ Civil Air Patrol Medal for Endeavour.

Next saw the cadets awarded their classification certificates, achieved by progressing through the First Class, Leading, Senior and Master Classifications. This was followed by awards for specific training, including HeartStart, First Aid, Blue Aviation Wings, BTEC’s and more.

Cadets where also presented their certificates for fundraising by the civilian committee, with Cdt Cpl Samantha Rist winning the Chairman’s Award for raising the most money in 2017/18.

We then moved onto the main awards of the night, starting with OC Commendations. These are awarded to recognise outstanding achievement and effort within the Squadron, with both Cdt Sgt George Marshall, and Cdt Cpl Ryan Phipps awarded OC Commendations.

Cdt Sgt Marshall with the Best Sports Cadet trophy

The Squadron is split into 3 flights, blue flight for our pre-uniformed cadets, and then the main Squadron is split between Red and Green flight. These two flights compete throughout the year against each other in everything from attendance and inspection scores to representation at sporting events. This year saw Red flight taking the trophy.

Cdt Cpl Samantha Rist was then presented with the Best Bandsman award to recognise her work with the Squadron band, representing the Wing at our RAF100 parade in Worcester, and also her part with the Air Cadet National Marching Band.

Cdt Sgt George Marshall was awarded the Sports trophy, in recognition of his role representing the Squadron in a number of events, and Wing representation at the Regional Cross Country competition.

Cdt Cpl Joseph Clark was also awarded the William Mussen Marksmanship trophy.

Acknowledging Cdt Sgt Jack Birch having achieved his Level 2 BTEC this year, he was awarded the Academic Achievement award.

Cdt Sgt Rowan Rodriguez-Mitchell was awarded the Beacon Adventure Training Trophy to recognise him achieving his Gold D of E award, and also helping out with Adventure Training on the Squadron with the new first class cadets.

Cdt Molly Biggs was award the trophy for Best Newcomer, awarded to the best cadet with less than 12 months service with the Squadron.

Cdt Robert Burne was then awarded the trophy for Best Cadet 2017/18, presented to the best cadet with more than 1 year service. Acknowledging his continuing effort on and off the Squadron, his participation in events and his professional attitude on the Squadron, Cdt Burne was a worthy winner.

The final award was that of Best NCO, another highly sought after award. This year, it went to Cdt FS Benjamin Hudson, the senior NCO on the Squadron. This recognises his commitment to the Squadron and it’s cadets, his attendance and contribution not just with 216 Squadron, but also with the wider Wing, most recently having led the band and the parade of over 200 personnel in the centre of Worcester celebrating the RAFs centenary.

Well done to all the cadets, for what has proven to be another fantastic year for 216 (Redditch) Squadron.