Reducing VPNs to a max of one a week would be a start. I know that some units are continuing with two a week, some have dropped to one, but there are some who have increased nights online.
Allow people to have the chance to recharge their batteries. Don’t make the decision compulsory from on high, give OCs the option.
We’ve been doing 1 night a week since the start - yes, we look a bit slack when compared to Sqns doing 3 times as many VPNs, but our numbers are constant, and the feedback from the troops is decent.
Our first parade was planned to be an hour long, but the troops asked for a bit longer, so we now run to 2 ish hours, inlcuding a 15 minute break. That said, alking the cadets last night, and it sounds like the schools have ramped up their online content, and my cadets are starting to lose their enthusiasm for staring at screens, so maybe a break isn’t as suicidal as it sounds?
We started looking to try 2 nights a week to reflect what we did normally. But started to run out of things to do, as well as the will to do them so have dropped to 1 night a week, but there is lots going on across wing/region that we are sharing with the cadets so plenty for them to do if they want.
Which is all well and good but how do you measure it? Is that 1 Bader Activity per Squadron per week? We aren’t all just running whole Squadron nights.
My own Squadrons numbers look high compared to most of our Wing but what’s not being taken into account is that some weeks we are running flight events, that’s 4 VPN’s (speed over 2 nights right there). Or we will have a Presentation Skills being run by 1 lot of staff to our Leading Cadets while the DofE Officer runs a workshop. That’s 2 more VPN’s but with different Cadets and Staff.
How about people stop trying to mandate what Squadrons should be doing and let them do what they are able to do, so if you can do one a forthright fine but if others are doing more then that’s fine too.
This should be a Squadron decision, I don’t think an enforced anything will help.
As for during the normal time, in one of my previous sqn attendance generally went up for the summer. It was a poor area and families couldn’t afford summer activities (not cadets we had a good comittee) and holidays - so their time out of the house was with us.
Exactly this. Sqn delivery depends on staff availability and skills, Sqn facilities and on demand from cadets and parents. Only the Sqn can decide what’s most appropriate.
I would see no problems with a Corps wide stand down when this over for 3 weeks during the summer holiday period and 4 over the Christmas period.
As for annual camps I think July could be utilised for camps exclusively for those having just done GCSE or finished 6th Form/FE Colleges and then August for other age groups. When our kids finished these stages, they were at a loose end for 8 weeks.
We parade one night a week for the first 4 weeks of the school summer hols and then nothing for the last 2 as I’ve increasingly found families using these two weeks as one of them is cheaper. That’s what we found when we had family holidays.
At Christmas we parade for 2 weeks in December, have a blow out for the cadets and that’s it until the normally the second week of the new year. Although the 2 weeks do see a drop off at times as the cadets are involved in school productions.
All in all I’ve found these last 11/12 weeks quite pleasant and the coming weeks likewise, especially as work has been part-time as well and we’re forbidden to go anywhere near the sqn.
The trend in our area is the opposite. We have parents choosing to miss the first two weeks of school, because the LEA fine usually costs much much less than a peak time holiday!
So here we are… 6 months on, still shut.
Right way back at the beginning of all this i said that a return after 3 months might end up with a quarter of Sqns closing.
Now it doesnt quite look that bad. But at least in my wing, as a direct result of covid a handful are looking like they wont reopen (10-15%).
But the cadet numbers returning certainly are decreasing.
If as it seems likely that the govt is going to reapply restrictions to the size of group gatherings etc across England, sqns reopening this side of Christmas seems… unlikely.
Damn you Corona. Damn you to hell.
UK covid alert level going from 3 to 4…
Hope this doesnt mean we will be forced to close as soon as we have reopened. 
You opened?!
Lol, every single surrounding county bar ours is now in lockdown so just waiting for the inevitable.
If the NYA moves their guidance up to red then we might be left with outdoor activities only. Will see what they put out over the coming days.
Lockdown 2: Electric Boogaloo
You mean we’re going to Lockdown 2 Electric Avenue
Wait… This level up is a bad thing, right???
So, the sequel to 28 Days Later (about a mysterious virus) was called 28 weeks later…
We’re at 26 weeks from when the first lockdown started in the UK.
Quite frankly we already have thousands of zombies ignoring rules and running around spreading the virus so it isn’t much different to the film🤷🏻♂️
Just less bitey bitey.
