Help us to buy adventurous training and leadership resources so that we can extend the scope of activities on offer to our cadets!
Penair Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is an Air Cadet section run through Penair School. We comprise of 62 students ranging from year 8 to year 12, two members of Penair staff and two adult volunteers.
Penair CCF meets once per week for our regular parade nights. On these evenings, we alternate between a week of lessons and drill, then a week of leadership tasks and activities. Our aim is to provide cadets with a range of opportunities to help them develop their confidence, leadership skills and ability to work as part of a team.
In addition to weekly parade nights, we offer a whole host of weekend activites that cadets can attend if they wish. These include shooting, flying, overnight camps, night exercises, mountain biking, mountain walking, First Aid, CCF competitions, Remembrance parade, leadership courses at RAF Cranwell and a range of Air Cadet courses at RAF St Mawgan. We hold an annual camp and offer cadets the chance to take part in overseas camps. The annual camp is one of the highlights of the year… take a look at the collage for a sneak peek at what we got up to in 2016.
As an RAF section, we are supported by the RAF in terms of access to their facilities, support of their staff and the provision of uniform. Penair CCF only formed in 2015 and for this reason we do not have any legacy equipment to support and supplement training. For example, we do not have adventurous training and leadership activity kits, which are invaluable when teaching young people how to be better leaders. Each cadet has their own individual story, and their own unique reasons for being part of the section. Some do it for a love of flying or shooting; some do it for the sense of unity and belonging; some do it for the leadership training and opportunitites; others do it for the camps and adventurous activities. Whatever their motivations, we are keen to support their interests and goals to as full an extent as possible. The purpose of this Crowdfunder project is to raise funds to finance the procurement of equipment for use within our training activities.
The CCF Association has managed to obtain funding from a charity and will match fund our project provided that we reach particular milestones. If we are able to raise £4500, they will add another £4000. If we manage to raise £8000, they will add another £7500. This means that your pledge is worth alomst double the amount that you pay!
We are a non-exclusive club and are fundamentally opposed to charging young people to join our CCF section. We do not charge weekly subs and wherever possible provide all activities free of charge. We are keen to extend the scope of what is on offer to cadets, but this is virtually impossible with our current limited budget. If we have to resort to using outside providers, we would be obliged to charge for some activities. The concern with this is that only the more affluent cadets would then be able to afford some activities, which directly opposes the fundamental aim of ensuring all activities are open to all. The resources we aim to procure will benefit not only our current cohort of cadets, but all the Penair CCF cadets of the future.
Enough from me… this project is all about improving the experiences of our cadets. What do they have to say about being a member of Penair CCF?
Well, that depends a lot on how much we manage to raise. We have loads of great ideas and exciting projects in mind. Some of our thoughts and ideas include the following: