Page 177 - Rifles 2017 Issue No 3

Lucton School CCF (The Ri es)
Yet again, the year seems to have own by, with so many different activities, competitions and camps it seems amazing that we have managed to t in lessons as well! The Contingent is still running at full capacity, with many of our overseas students now trying CCF for a term, then choosing to stay on for the full year.
The Contingent’s Annual Dinner was an impressive affair, held in the Queen Anne Dining Room with well over a hundred cadets, staff and guests. This year’s Guest Speaker was Colonel Mayberry, Deputy Brigade Commander for 11 Signal and West Midlands Brigade, along with the High Sherriff of Herefordshire and old Luctonian, Bill Jackson. Both guests presented awards and promotions to the cadets, including Best Cadet to CSM Lucy Jones, Best Recruit to Cdt Aaron Powell, Best Shot to Sgt Archie Brown, OC’s Award to LCpl Ella Pillidge and nally a well-deserved promotion for Cdt RSM Megan Grif ths. Mrs Thorne was also pleased to be able to announce a promotion for Major Derrigan, our own Contingent Commander.
The Duke of Edinburgh Awards continue to grow within the CCF, with the introduction of D of E for Year 9. All years have worked hard to gain their Bronze and Silver Awards this year, with a small group starting their Gold Award. This resulted in us taking 60 cadets to the Black Mountains in June, for their qualifying expeditions, which gave them some great experience in navigation and team work as well as some challenging hill walking for the Silver and Gold groups.
As ever, First Aid has been a popular and important part of our training for the cadets, which was recognised in September when the Contingent was nominated for the St John Ambulance Everyday Heroes Award. Not only was this the rst time such a nomination has occurred, but we were also invited to submit an application again this year, a great achievement which re ects all the hard work
put in both by the cadets and their instructor Major Derrigan! This year has seen all of Year 8 achieve their Heartstart Award and Year 10 complete the First Aid Youth Award, which culminated in a highly successful examination weekend. Our First Aid teams yet again became Regional First Aid CCF champions, qualifying for the National Competition next October. While last October saw LCpl Poppy Perry, LCpl Maddie Lewis, LCpl Josh Turnbull and LCpl Jack Buttery perform exceptionally well in the National First Aid Competition to become the top First Aid Team in England!
D of E Gold Award Team
Winners of Regional First Aid Competition