When adult volunteer Harry Wormald took charge of his local Air Cadet squadron last year, the first thing he noticed was that the centre hadn’t seen a new lick of paint since he had been a cadet there himself!
So he arranged for a request to be made to the RAF Air Cadets and the RFCA for Yorkshire and the Humber to organise a revamp.
And now, thanks to RFCA surveyor Ian Thompson and the efforts of these two decorators – Shane Bendek (pictured left) and Martyn Jones of contracting firm Bell Group -, the cadets at 59 (Huddersfield) Squadron can look forward to kicking off 2022 in pristine style.
New-looking cadet centre
Harry said: “I took over command of the squadron in January 2020 and noticed that everything looked the same as it did when I was there as a cadet in 2009. So I asked the Air Cadets for an upgrade and I’m pleased to say they agreed to approach the RFCA to make it happen.
“I couldn’t be happier that the cadets will start off 2022 with a shiny new-looking cadet centre.”
Huddersfield Air Cadets share the 1980s-built centre with cadets from D Company of Yorkshire (North & West) Army Cadet Force with a total of 88 cadets parading there each week.
It is one of more than 600 buildings that the RFCA for Yorkshire and the Humber manage on behalf of all cadet and reserve forces in the region – carrying out more than 1,000 repairs each year as well as thousands of safety and equipment checks.
Busy time for the RFCA
Surveyor Ian said: “This is a busy time of year for the RFCA’s team of surveyors because it is the season when we visit every building that is home to a cadet or reserve unit and check what repairs and upgrades they may need to be scheduled for the year ahead. “Having a great place to work and train makes all the difference to our cadets and reserves that’s why we put a lot of effort into keeping all our buildings in the best possible shape.