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Staffordshire and West Midlands AcF
A Review of the Year
By Capt C Bailey
It has been a busy year for Staffordshire and West Midlands ACF. After seeing
off the previous year in style with our largest Christmas Camp ever with over 300 cadets on camp and a service from the Bishop of Stafford, the cadets were then called upon to perform a guard of honour at the last civic engagement of the outgoing Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire, Sir James Hawley KCVO. He had served as Lord Lieutenant since 1993. Sir James was also present, at the official opening
of Hednesford Detachment, along with representatives from the local council, the Reserve Forces and Cadets Association and the developers St Modwen, who built the detachment as part of a £50 million development project. The opening coincided with the detachment’s parade night, which meant that the visitors could
see cadet training in action. Sir James said, “It is very nice to see the cadets so strong here, and to have a new detachment is really wonderful”. We will also be opening a new detachment later this year at
Ellowes Hall School in Dudley. This new detachment will be badged MERCIAN, which means the Regiment is now represented in 19 Detachments throughout the Staffordshire and West Midlands area.
Later in the year on the 12th May, one of our cadets, Lance Corporal Rebecca Love was awarded the prestigious Young First Aider of the Year Award. Lance Corporal Love, from Perton Detachment, intervened in a serious assault. As well as rendering first aid Rebecca took down the registration number of the assailant’s car as he fled, which helped ensure his subsequent conviction. Ian Mackenzie, Chief Officer (Volunteers) for St Johns Ambulance, who presented the award at a ceremony at St John’s Headquarters in London said, “Each of the young people who received this award have shown the importance of first
aid in emergency situations. They should all be very proud of their actions.”
At the end of June, cadets from around the county joined forces with troops, veterans and other uniformed services to celebrate Armed Forces Day. Cadets were encouraged to wear their uniform to school and took part in parades across the county and a flag raising ceremony in Walsall. They also manned a stall in Himley and Stoke. In Wolverhampton the parade coincided with the Olympic Torch progress and cadets lined the route to see it pass.
Annual Camp was set to be one of the best ever, held at Warcop Training Camp, with 600 cadets and adults on camp and a contingent of nine cadets from the local Air Training Corps. The cadets spent the week taking part in varied and challenging training, including exercises out at Moorhouse Farm, and time on the LSW and ranges for the more senior cadets with visits from the Royal Signals Regiment, paintball, archery and
an inflatable obstacle course for the junior cadets. The adults were not left out, with
Adult Volunteers Michelle Brown and Sara Hurts on their training exercise on Annual Camp
THE MERCIAN EAGLE