The month of November saw the cadets busy collecting for the Royal British Legion, helping to raise over £1000 on the 5th November in Bramhall Village despite the cold weather! Our thanks must go the The Mill Youth Club who provided us with Hot Chocolate and a warm place to sit in-between shifts. Continuing on the theme of Remembrance, 10 cadets from 55 SQN attended the annual Festival of Remembrance at Manchester Airport held under the wings of Concorde. The service was powerful and moving, reminding everybody of those who fought for our freedom in the World Wars as well as those who are still fighting today. Just a few days later on the 13th November, the squadron was in action again with everybody turning out to take part in the Bramhall Remembrance Day Parade and service. All of the cadets looked exceptionally smart and performed beautifully to keep the spirit of Remembrance alive.
A chance for the squadron members to let their hair down was the Annual Dining in Night which took place on 26th November. Guests arrived at 6:30 for drinks and raffle tickets, before being seated for the lovely meal provided by Bramhall Golf Club. The night was a celebration of the cadets’ successes over the previous months, with over 70 awards being presented for a huge variety of activities: first aid, airmanship studies, sports representations, health and safety, shooting and many others. The evening concluded with speeches and entertainment from the Squadron’s resident entertainent’s committee and jugglers Cadet SGT Charlie McKeever and CPL Tom Weston. After much merriment and a lovely night out the cadets returned home with chocolate planes stuffed in their pockets.
The day after, the squadron Netball team was in action at the Inter-Squadron Netball Competition. Our team of seven girls had spent the previous three months practising all aspects of the sport including shooting and passing. CPL Harriet Ruane describes what happened with this short paragraph: winning three out of four matches and drawing 2-2 with 1855 (Royton) SQN, we came out on top based solely on goal difference, progressing to and not only winning the quarter finals but the semi-finals as well, leaving us to face 1855 once again in the final. After an intense 5 minutes in the first half, the score remained 0-0 at the halfway point. Then, in the second half, 1855 upped their game and their aggression, but we remained calm, remembering what we had practiced and playing together as a team like never before. It paid off. A winning goal was scored mere seconds before the final whistle blew, carrying us to victory.
All of our girls played extremely well and deserved the win after putting in so much hard work practicing. Other sporting success came from CDT Katie Haynes who played for the Inter-Region Hockey team and SGT Tom McCarthy who played for the Inter-Region Rugby team.
The squadron has enjoyed a fantastic end to 2016 through the hard work and dedication of both cadets and staff. We wish all of our cadets, staff and friends of the squadron a peaceful holiday season and a happy start to the New Year.
We also hope that our successes will continue into 2017 with our new recruit intake planned for the end of January. If you are aged between 12 and 18 and are interested in aviation, adventure and sports then please give us a look up on our website www.55atc.com