The Volunteer - NWRFCA - Northwest Reserve Forces & Cadets ...

PEOPLE
& PLACES
CADETS HONOURED
FOR RECORD BREAKING
POPPY APPEAL
CARING cadets from Manchester raised nearly
£123,500 for the Poppy Appeal, which is a 10
per cent increase on last year.
The young sea, army and air cadets in
Greater Manchester raised more than any
other cadet force in the country gaining high
praise from the Lord Lieutenant of Greater
Manchester Col Warren J Smith.
At a prestigious awards ceremony at
Smokies Hotel, Oldham, Col Smith said:
“Your efforts are a magnificent achievement
considering the difficult financial climate that
we are in. This is the 90th anniversary of the
Royal British Legion and it is amazing to see
how the organisation has grown. The Poppy
Appeal is, perhaps, one of the most important
and significant parts of British life.”
Two Army Cadets from Belle Vue, David
Carney and Holly Ginder, raised an amazing
£8,500 – 70 per cent of their unit’s total figure.
Sea Cadet sisters Chloe and Jenny Lane, from
Oldham, raised nearly £1,900 between them
while Oldham ATC Cadet Ashley Millward
raised £3,161.94 and ATC Sgt Jonathon Barker,
from Failsworth, raised £2,925.49.
LCdt Jenny Lane said: “We spent about three
weeks collecting on Saturdays, Sundays and a
couple of days during the week. A lot of people
said how nice it was to see us selling poppies
and we had a massive response from people
wanting to buy the pin badges. Many people
donated several times.”
And there was even a bit of celebrity
help for Belle Vue detachment, the overall
winning unit and most improved army cadet
force having raised £12,415.50 – Peter Andre
contributed to the cause while he visited
Eastlands.
Members of the Great War Society in their Accrington Pals uniforms, one of them wearing his grandfather’s
original uniform, together with Cdt Cpl’s Mathew Simkin, Hadley Whithead and Lauren Pemberton.
Remembering
The Accrington Pals
The Lancs ACF Somme Company played a
major part in a Memorial Service for the
11th (Service) Bn, The East Lancashire Regt –
famously know as The Accrington Pals.
The whole event was arranged by their
Officer, Lt Shelley Whitehead, an ex-TA Iraq
veteran. Mayoral parties attended from all
over Lancashire as did 20 Standard Bearers
who were led by two of the Cadets, Cpl Hadley
Whithead with the ‘Pals’ Standard and Cpl
Scott Knowles with the Duke of Lancaster’s
Regt Standard.
During the service the following was read
out as a tribute to the Accrington Pals, who
suffered terrible losses in the Great War.
A soldier waiting quietly for the judgement
of his God heard the following words “Step
forward now you brave soldier, you’ve borne
your burden well, Walk peacefully in heaven’s
streets, you’ve served your time in hell.” .
Cdt Ashley Millward, from Oldham Squadron, and
Sgt Jonathon Barker from Failsworth Squadron who
raised the second highest amount from the ATC for
the Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester’s Cadet
Poppy Appeal Awards 2010
Cdt Carney, from Belle Vue, took the trophy
for best cadet having raised the most. He said: “I
worked really hard and would spend six hours
a day selling poppies. Everyone was really nice
and wished me all the best.”
Cdt Millward and Sgt Barker said selling
wreaths helped them raise such large totals.
Cdt Millward said: “I worked hard in the local
area and wreaths were a big seller.” While Sgt
Barker added: “I would spend five hours at a
time collecting and also took time off college to
sell poppies.”
In addition to the money raised by the cadets,
the Poppy Appeal has benefited a further a
further £8,072.31 raised by sixth form colleges
and £3,445.05 from the Officer Training Corps
adding up to a total of £134,965.34 from the
young men and women of Greater Manchester.
Nationally the Poppy Appeal has already
raised £32.5million.
6 THE VOLUNTEER www.nwrfca.org.uk