Henley Air Cadets Help Out at May Fayre

Henley Air Cadets once again had the pleasure of assisting at the Henley May Fayre last Monday. Eight Henley Air Cadets and two members of staff were on hand to man our recruitment stall and to help out with the Coconut Shy, Test Your Strength and Beat the Buzzer stalls.

As Squadron Commander, it was very rewarding for me to have members of the public come up and shake my hand, and praise my cadets for their enthusiasm and hard work. Cadets Lily Eggleton and Lexus Whitehouse were kept busy at the Coconut Shy, and Cadet Corporal Joe Day and Cadet Freddie Davis kept the crowds happy at Test You Strength, helping young visitors to wield the hammer.

Although we had a few spots of rain, it did nothing to dampen spirits and the day flew by. The Squadron ran a small competition for visitors to our stall to guess the number of uniform shirts in a box, with a £10 prize for the correct guess. The prize was won then promptly returned to us as a donation by the very generous winner! Many thanks to Laura Tucker. All proceeds are going to the Royal British Legion on Remembrance Sunday. It is Henley Squadron’s intention to raise funds at every local event on behalf of the RBL, and we have agreed as a Squadron that a proportion of ALL donations made to us for assistance at events will go to the Henley and Bix Branch of the Royal British Legion – an organisation with whom we are proud to share an affiliation.

On June 26 Henley Air Cadets will be inspected by Wing Commander Chris Fisher RAFVR(T) OBE at our Annual Formal Inspection, a Squadron event that will also be attended by Mayor Kellie Hinton, Councillor David Eggleton and representatives from the Royal British Legion, John Green and Alex Manning . The evening will give us the opportunity to showcase our squadron and it’s achievements, as well as the chance for our cadets to demonstrate the skills they have learned. As well as the Inspection, we will be opening the Squadron doors to all young people (and their parents) who are interested in finding out more about what being a Royal Air Force cadet really means and how they can join us. They will have a chance to look at our displays, have their photo taken in our Jet Provost cockpit and also experience the thrill of flying in our new VR Flight Simulator.

After the parade our visitors and guests will join the staff, cadets and Civilian Committee members for a drink and ‘fork supper’.

If you would like to attend, simply email oc.447@aircadets.org for more information or pop in to the Drill Hall, Friday Street, Henley RG9 1AH on Monday or Thursday evening after 7 pm. To be enrolled as a Royal Air Force Cadet you must be Year 8 and 12-16 years at recruitment.

Here are a couple of possible recruits from the May Fayre – although they may have to wait a few years!!”