They didn’t work for us either…
And the SCC/RM as well.
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Let’s be frank
If you’re a teen - your assumption is that cadets get to go flying, gliding and shooting regularly; that there are regular camps that you can attend during the holidays; that you can dress up in MTPs and “have a laugh”; and last of all, it might help you to get in to the RAF to be a pilot…
I’d say those were the top 6 reasons.
If asked why Air Cadets - not SCC or ACF? “Don’t want to be always playing in the mud - and I get seasick!”
If RAFAC ever did a survey of all cadets across the Corp, I’d be confident that my hunch would be born out…
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This is the only part I’d question. I think the teens would answer with pull factors towards the ATC, rather than push factors from the ACF/SCC.
“I want to go flying, and still do everything the army cadets do too” or, much more likely, “my mates said they’re joining the air cadets”
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That would be more a reason for selecting a section in a mandatory CCF
Can I still be Garth?
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Sinatra, Enstein, Skinner, or the guy from the adverts that teenagers phoned up to research talk through their concerns about drugs?
Just don’t call me Shirley.
“Surely, you must be joking!”
Great minds think alike - mine just runs slower…!
I can’t really compare to 2 parade nights as my detachment has paraded one night a week longer than I have been a CFAV. It is difficult to get everything in and you do need weekend camps and training days to get through the syllabus. We’ve recently had a big syllabus overhaul and at the moment it is taking quite some time to get everyone through basic.
That said, I don’t have the energy for 2 parade nights a week so I’m fine with it.
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We’re doing much better on the diversity front than any of our parent services…despite the latter having a lot of Commonwealth countries from which to recruit. 
Absolutely location dependant and I do think 1 night a week can work in terms of Air Cadet syllabus particularly if you do do or have access to a fair amount of training weekends.
However, in a not related to the Air Cadets specifically, we wouldn’t go down to one night a week unless we really really had to because of the background of a lot of the teenagers in our local area. We also only shut for 2 weeks over the Christmas. Ideally love some more staff so we can rotate through but as have supportive local staff who do come in and cover for other staff to make sure Sqn staff are getting a break.
But for a lot of our Cdts the Sqn is their out, their warm place without the stigma of going to the community hubs specific for warmth, to get a bit of space away from their I’ve packed house, to avoid doing out with kids from their school they feel pressured to go with if they are at home doing nothing.
I really wish I could say that it only applied to a handful of our cadets, but in reality it’s the majority. At other sqns I’ve been on over summer we dropped massive numbers - this squadron we maintained our normal numbers bar one or two who’ve gone on social service retreats
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