Northumberland District Sea Cadets are looking to recruit young people and new staff as boating season begins

Northumberland District Sea Cadets work with young people aged 10 to 18 years old and aim to give them training based on the customs and traditions of the Royal Navy and build their confidence in a respectful environment, whilst learning skills that will be useful in both service and civilian life.

There is only one Sea Cadets division in Northumberland, based in Ashington, with the other nearest being in Tyneside and Dunbar.

Michael Pearce, a volunteer for the Sea Cadets said: “Honestly, the whole thing's an adventure. You are going to learn so much and experience things that you would never experience outside of cadets.

"There's things like attending parades, going down to London for the Trafalgar Day Parade, which is huge. There's qualifications you can gain and ships you can visit. You can do almost anything. If there's something you want to do, ask us and we'll try and get it on.

"We get asked to be involved in so many different things and the camaraderie is incredible as well. Not only for the cadets, but for us staff too. It's just extremely fulfilling.”

The group is looking to get more young people on board, and boasts opportunities in getting qualifications and taking exciting trips both in the UK and abroad.

Michael added: “They’ll get to go out at sea! We've got a couple of large yachts, two power vessels and a tall ship. They go all around the UK and they go to the Channel Islands, across to France and across to Holland.

"We've just started our boating season as well. So every Friday we're down boating and the kids are learning how to sail a small dinghy or how to row, how to use small power boats as well.”

Boating season begins around May and lasts until September due to the light. Cadets can choose between different pathways from Junior Cadets, Sea Cadets or Royal Marine Cadets, and get to build skills in rock-climbing, engineering and more.

Information on the group and how to join can be found on their website here.