The Sea Cadet Corps

The Sea Cadet Corps is Britain's oldest voluntary maritime-based youth organisation involving 22,500 people in some 400 units across the country and over 25 can be found in Wales.
In recent decades, tens of thousands of youngsters have seized the opportunity to enjoy and benefit from the training and instruction on offer afloat and ashore. Many cadets have gone on to join the Royal Navy or the Merchant Service, but the majority have simply been assisted to become good citizens, responsible adults and attractive candidates for employment.

With its beginnings dating back as far as 1854, the Sea Cadets probably has the longest continuous history of any youth movement in the UK. What started as an informal gesture by a well-meaning clergyman - concerned for disadvantaged boys orphaned by the Crimean War - has grown in the intervening years to the point where some 15,000 boys and girls are active members.

The movement helps to develop personal attributes and high standards of conduct, using a nautical theme based on the Customs of the Royal Navy. Young people from 12 to 18 years old are placed into organised, stimulating environments where they can learn new skills, interact and collaborate with their peers and where confidence and self esteem can flourish.

The Sea Cadets prides itself on its ongoing programme of practical training and education, orchestrated from its 12 national training centres and 10 boating stations. Cadets are encouraged to gain professional and nationally recognised qualifications, thanks to bursaries and scholarships, all cadets have the same opportunities regardless of social means or background.

Learning continues at sea aboard the Corp's fleet of offshore training vessels, including TS Royalist, a 29 metre, two masted clipper style square-rigged sailing ship launched in 1972, and the 24 metre TS John Jerwood, a modern, fully equipped, twin engine training ship.