Awards as cadets link up with RBL
Cadets have been presented with awards as part of a ceremony which saw their unit formally affiliated with their town's branch of the Royal British Legion.
Market Drayton Cadets received the honour at an event attended by the Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire Sir Algernon Heber-Percy.
Youths received awards for physical excellence and other areas of outstanding achievement, and the cadets were praised for their hard work and welcomed by the branch in a bid to strengthen ties between the forces and the RBL.
Trevor Parr, vice-chairman of Market Drayton Cadets and youth development officer, said: "It's really an opportunity for youth clubs to have links with us so we can agree to support and promote each other in any way possible.
"It means we can help the cadets with anything they have going, for example the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
"It was a fantastic evening, absolutely brilliant.
"We do hope that some of the cadets might join as members now too, they did show some real interest.
"But it's more about getting as many community youth groups affiliated as possible so we can help them and support them in different things."
He added: "The evening itself was really well attended, we had cadets and their parents and friends showing support and some special guests there too."
Rob Bentley, vice-chairman of the RBL club, said: "It was organised by the branch in Market Drayton and was incredibly well done.
"It was absolutely fantastic, the cadets seem to really enjoy it and it was very well organised.
"The young cadets were a credit to their team and their parents, they should be very proud of themselves."
With the programme being rolled out across the country, RBL branches all over Britain are hoping to become closer to their nearby cadet groups, and there are also plans to link with the naval cadets too as well as any other interested youth groups.
County Commander Maurios Coulon (CORR) also presented cadets with accolades - Cadet Corporal Taylor Hodge was awarded for his work in physical training.
Mr Bentley said he now hopes to see more youngsters around the club.
He said: "Hopefully it will give the branch some dedicated new members and also we should see some more people at the club.
"We always want more people getting involved so it should be a very positive thing."
