News round-up: Autumn 2025
A collection of news stories from around the Corps, from Tall Ships to hot shots

Tales of Tall Ships
The all-conquering cadets and crew of TS Royalist were big winners in the Tall Ships Races 2025: they won ‘Best in Crew Parade’ at the opening ceremony in Le Havre; finished a superb second out of 45 vessels in the first leg to Dunkirk; and conquered the North Sea to receive a hero’s welcome in Aberdeen, finishing in fourth place overall.
With half a million visitors to Tall Ships Aberdeen the crew were great ambassadors for Sea Cadets, even becoming TV stars after an onboard cookery session with chef Kevin Dalgleish. Better still, TS Royalist was named Most Environmental Crew while its Captain, Lt Cdr (SCC) Angela Morris RNR, was presented with ‘The Aberdeen Rock’ – a new trophy for dedication to sail training.
BZ for an outstanding performance showing the very best of Sea Cadets.

The fun of the water
Over 1,100 hard-to-reach young people across Edinburgh, Birmingham and London got the chance to push beyond their limits and experience the excitement of watersports as part of our On The Water outreach project.
The young people tried kayaking, canoeing, stand-up paddleboarding, rowing, windsurfing and sailing, and 150 earned qualifications in paddlesports, rowing and sailing.
“Every young person deserves the chance to discover what they’re capable of,” says Alan Sounthararajah, On The Water Project Coordinator. “At Sea Cadets we offer adventure, teamwork and life-changing experiences and it’s vital we make that accessible to those who’ve never had the opportunity, simply because of financial or social barriers.”
None of this would be possible without the incredible support of our funders. A heartfelt thank you to the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation, Gosling Foundation, Trinity House, Tindall Riley and others for making this project a reality!

Join the adventure with SeaVenturers!
Sea Cadets has launched SeaVenturers, an exciting new programme for young people aged nine to 11. Designed to be flexible and community-led, it offers fun, weekly sessions packed with activities such as navigation, morse code and aerodynamics.
SeaVenturers helps young people build confidence, make friends and develop life skills in a safe and supportive environment. Sessions are run by local volunteers – parents, grandparents and residents – with no previous experience needed. The programme is easy to deliver, with full support and an affordable monthly fee. With government backing and amid a growing need for community-based youth programmes, SeaVenturers is a great way to help young people thrive while strengthening local connections.
For more details visit seaventurers.org.
A lot of Promise
The Sea Cadets Promise is a meaningful moment in every cadet’s journey. Over the past year, we’ve been reviewing the Promise to ensure it reflects who we are today and means everyone has a consistent experience across all units.
We’re incredibly grateful to the cadets, volunteers and others who’ve shared their views so far. Your input has been invaluable and it’s clear how much the Promise matters. To make sure we get this right, we’ve decided to extend the review to give even more of you a chance to help shape the final version and ensure it continues to inspire and include everyone. New guidance will also be developed so all units have a more uniform experience of the Promise.
Thank you for your support. We look forward to continuing this journey together.

Welcoming the Strategic Defence Review
The UK government recently published its Strategic Defence Review, a big plan for how the country stays safe at home and abroad. It doesn’t just look at the Armed Forces, it also highlights the important role that Cadet Forces, like Sea Cadets, can play.
The review says cadets help young people gain skills, grow in confidence and feel connected to their communities – and we couldn’t agree more! A key recommendation is to grow Cadet Forces by 30% in time for 2030, with support from government, the Royal Navy and others. The review also encourages more focus on STEM, tech and links with schools, all of which are priorities for us.
This isn’t just about recruiting – it’s about helping young people thrive. With the government backing our mission, our future looks brighter than ever.

Prizes of a lifetime
BZ to our three winning Growth Challenge units who were thrilled to claim their incredible prizes
in mid-August: week-long voyages provided by our amazing Offshore Team!
TS Jack Petchey hosted Dover & Deal Unit’s cadets and volunteers for an epic North Sea adventure; City of Salford Unit’s crew were excited to explore the Cumbrian coast onboard TS John Jerwood; and our first-prize winners from Chesterfield Unit set sail for the voyage of a lifetime on TS Royalist (above) – enjoying some unforgettable sail training between Aberdeen and North Shields. All three units made the most of these unique opportunities for learning and team building, with many new qualifications gained and memories made.
Thanks to all those who ensured the Growth Challenge helped us to support even more young people, with 134 units making it onto the prize ballot by achieving at least 5% growth.

The Sea Cadets Portal turns five!
Created with the help of cadets, the Sea Cadets Portal has massively contributed to the development of thousands of young people. It launched during the Covid-19 lockdown, providing virtual learning and giving a vital digital lifeline to keep units connected.
The Portal continues to thrive, with cadet and volunteer feedback supporting a constantly improving experience for a steadily growing number of active users – now numbering over 13,000!
A month of celebrations on the Portal News Feed included cadet quotes from the 2024/25 Impact Survey, revealing how the Portal has become a valued tool for discovering courses, achieving promotions and keeping in touch with the latest Sea Cadets news.
“I think that without the Portal I wouldn’t have gone on nearly as many courses as I have,” said Cadet Jack of Penarth Unit. Cadet Annabelle of Doncaster Unit reflected that the Portal has created “a sense of friendly community from other cadets, even at different units”.
National shooting success
Sea cadets from Southern Area took part in the first-ever National Target Sprint Competition at Cranleigh School, Surrey. Target Sprint is an air rifle discipline combining running and target shooting, and school- and community-based cadets from all three services had to complete three 200m or 400m runs, broken up by shooting rounds at knockdown targets.
Our teams, made up of cadets from Crawley and Portsmouth Units, were in inspired form, winning gold and bronze in the over-16 boys, and silvers in the over- and under-16 girls. Their combined performances also meant that Sea Cadets won the overall trophy for community-based Cadet Forces – an incredible performance in their first attempt at a new discipline.

What’s your unit’s carbon footprint?
We’d like to encourage our Sea Cadets community to do more to help the environment by looking at their carbon footprint and taking simple measures to reduce it.
To help, try our Carbon Footprint Calculator, specifically designed for units. Units can also complete a CTP Carbon Footprint session.
The Dover and Deal Sea Cadets used the calculator and made a number of changes and proposals:
• Carbon emissions, and bills, were reduced by reinsulating walls and completing other renovations.
• Solar panel installation is being explored, to become energy independent and raise funds from power sold back to the grid.
• Other efforts included reducing water usage in toilet cisterns, making bird feeders and rewilding unused areas of the unit grounds by planting more flowers to attract bees and insects.
Over the past year other units have also made great strides to reduce their carbon footprint. After years of fundraising, Orkney Unit will be replacing its broken wind turbine to once again provide clean energy for heating while generating surplus electricity to contribute vital funds to the unit. Gravesend and Milford Haven Units have both replaced their ageing boilers with energy-efficient heating systems. And, as part of other improvement work, Maidenhead, Feltham & Hounslow, and Neath & District Units have all upgraded their lighting to low-energy LED fixtures.
These changes show how essential maintenance can be a chance to invest in a more sustainable future.
Photos: Sea Cadets
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