“Major Announcement: Minister for Veterans and Pensioners Visits RAF Air & Space Camp
RAF Syerston was honored to host Minister Alistair Carns at the National Air & Space Camp today for a landmark announcement. The government’s new “30 by 30” initiative will see a £70 million investment to expand the cadet forces by over 40,000 by 2030.
This funding will help us continue to provide incredible opportunities for young people from all backgrounds, regardless of postcode or family income. The Minister witnessed firsthand how we’re preparing our cadets for the future, including the new drone pilot qualification, making us the first military youth organization in the UK to offer this official certification.
This investment is a huge vote of confidence in the life-changing impact of the cadet experience. It will allow us to offer even more opportunities in STEM, adventurous training, and leadership, helping to build the next generation of confident, resilient, and skilled leaders.”
That’s great but what about staff and accommodation!
How many squadrons can take on an increase of 30% in cadet number in their current accommodation, given H&S and fire regulations. And staff, where are these coming from when we struggle to recruit and retain at present.
£70 million, spread over 5 years, is not a lot of money. That represents less than a 10% budget increase, not accounting for inflation. I’m not sure how that’s going to get 30% more cadets. Knock off some for advertising, and there won’t be a lot left for buildings or increased staff training capacity.
Toilets are a limiting factor also, the government website provides interesting reading on the number of facilities required and whether we are a place of work or an educational establishment.
Spooner huts with only two toilets could be limited to 25 people. If an educational establishment, then 40 would be the maximum number.
Links How many toilets should a workplace have? School toilets: Good practice guidance for schools in Wales
guidance is the same for England and Wales.
A central part of the package is the introduction of drone pilot training for RAF Air Cadets. Once formally approved by the Civil Aviation Authority, cadets will become the first youth organisation in Britain licensed to deliver industry-recognised drone qualifications. This is expected to give thousands of young people a head start in one of the fastest-growing sectors in defence and civilian technology.
The plan will also streamline the process for adult volunteers, while veterans will be offered a fast-track route into leadership roles within cadet organisations. To ensure sustainability, the MOD says regular and reserve military personnel will be given more opportunities to support cadet training directly, creating stronger links between the Armed Forces and communities.
But they’ve been saying similar for years. It was part of the OG 2020 vision. It’s also been a part of the ASTRA framework too. Lots of say, no do. Like drone flying. Banned for almost 4 years by now… (And not exactly easy before that!)
Probably the wrong person to answer, but it could have something to do with the lack of recognition (no CFM, time volunteering with cadets doesn’t count towards minimum commitment for reservists, etc.), not getting time off in lieu (regulars) or paid (reservists), not being able to claim expenses, etc.
We are close to capacity in both buildings and staff.
There are ways we could increase capacity, without construction, won’t go into details here but I can’t see it happening as it would cause a loss of income for others.
Another issue is storage, more cadets means more kit and we have nowhere to put it.
I am pleased to learn we have compliant toilet to cadet ratios however!
We recruit cadets up to the fire capacity of the building, so the only way to increase our numbers would be to parade on additional nights, as we’re lucky to have a dedicated building. This would need twice as many staff to run the parade nights.
Recruiting and retaining staff is difficult, with the joining paperwork still as complex and frustrating as ever. My gut feel is also that many staff have become less active off Sqn as the paperwork demands increase (CACE etc), pressure increases due to restricted staff numbers on events and the small benefit of VA becomes less predictable. This results in fewer off Sqn activities and it’s those activities that keep cadets involves for years.
volunteering to do your day job / volunteering for the same people you work for doesn’t give you a mental break from day job employment
majority of people who leave the military don’t leave on good terms (it tends to be they’ve had enough) & as such want to do something different , often with the last thing they want to do is put the same uniform on that they’ve been wearing for the last decade.
You see it in the same way on other volunteer roles e.g. police control room staff volunteering as Special Constables, ambulance & St johns etc
They key bit is to give the veterans a prod about 12 months after leaving when some of the frustration has burned away.
it is disappointing that once again “success” seems to be measured by a “bums on seats” unit rather than success of the organisation.
we could by all means see an uplift of 30% to the organisation - but only for a week, maybe a month before 40% of those Cadets all leave realising the “over promise and under deliver” message they received with an additional 10% loss who got caught up in the uplift and have even fewer opportunities because the effort was only put towards getting bodies through the door and nothing about retention.
I am sure i put it elsewhere - if we all managed to keep just 10% more Cadets 12 month longer this would see a notable increase in the Cadets on Squadron/size of the organisation - this is a retention issue and while there will be plenty of personal circumstances and reasons why people leave, much of it is the lack of “pull” from the organisation to stay - there isn’t enough going on to keep their interest and see that sticking around is worthwhile.
there was a time when having Cadet experience on a CV meant something - but with so few opportunities the Cadet experience is now so watered down, if questioned in an interview what experiences the interview candidate enjoyed in the Cadets the have so much less to stand out from the rest of the crowd - 3 years commitment to the Squadron with 1 flight, and 1 camp is hardly ground breaking.
