On the evening of 15th February 2012, the Staff and cadets of TS Legion had their first open evening.  It was attended by parents, families and visitors, and by Fr Kevin (Chaplain to TS Legion) and others from St James Church.

Visitors received a tour of TS Legion, and were shown many of the activities that the cadets are involved in during their training. These activities include drill, and class work appropriate to the age groups. There was also a raffle to raise money to support the activities of the cadets of TS Legion.

During the break parents were treated to tea, coffee and biscuits, and staff and cadets mingled with visitors. Many parents were interested to know about the different roles of the Navy and Marine cadets.  Some would say that the differences can be summed up light heartedly by saying that Marine cadets get more mud on their uniforms and they get to crawl through cow pats on their weekends away!!! (and of course, the officer in charge of the Marines shouts louder on the parade ground!!!).

Colours at the end of the evening took place outside (a sign of milder weather creeping in perhaps!!!), with junior members of  TS Legion taking on the roles of senior figures, and wearing appropriate naval caps of senior ranks for this special evening. Fr Kevin also presented certificates of achievement to three Dolphin cadets (age group 10-12 years). All cadets performed flawlessly on the evening. The standard of drill was brilliant, and all the cadets were a credit to the unit. Everyone pulled their weight, and put in 110% effort.

We hope that some of the younger members present at the open evening will join up as cadets and experience the fun and enjoyment of  Navy and Marine cadet activities at TS Legion.

Some of the photos of the evening are below, click to enlarge view.

Cadets of TS Legion salute the visitors

TS Legion cadet Chloe at work in the classroom

Cadets Harry (left) and Callum (right) taking on a senior ranking roles at colours on open evening at TS Legion

Fr Kevin (Chaplain to TS Legion) presented certificates to cadets of TS Legion. Cadet Joe receiving his certificate proudly looked on by his Grandmother.

Our thanks to all our visitors, we enjoyed having you come along to visit us, and we hope that you will come again in the not too distant future.

Fr Kevin Palmer