We are very pleased that your child is considering joining the Air Training Corps. Hopefully this page should answer some frequently asked questions and to give guidance about our organisation and your child’s involvement with us. The Commanding Officer who runs the local squadron is always available should there be any problems with your child’s membership. You can be assured that they are looking to join an excellent youth organisation. Our adult staff who are all volunteers are highly trained to ensure that all activities are carried out safely and effectively. There are many activities for your child to take part in, some of which can be found on other parts of this website
Aims of the Air Cadets
• To promote and encourage an active interest in the RAF and aviation
• To foster the spirit of Adventure
• To provide training that will be useful both in service and civilian life
• To develop the qualities of good citizenship
The Staff
The Squadron is staffed by Adult Instructors and Uniformed Staff who have all undergone ATC Training and passed the required classifications, as well as stringent checks by the Criminal Records Bureau. They volunteer their services to the Squadron on top of their own careers and some were once cadets themselves.
Parents Responsibilities
You will be responsible for your child getting to and from the squadron safely. You are also responsible for the uniform that we will issue them with. The uniform costs about £100 per cadet. However do not worry as you will not be expected to pay this as the uniform is on loan to them (you will be required to pay a £15 refundable deposit). It is important that it is looked after and only used for air cadet activities.
- The following items are supplied free of charge (refundable deposit required):
- beret
- brassard
- light blue (No.2A) shirt
- dark blue (No.2C) shirt
- tie
- jumper
- trousers or skirt
- jeltex (waterproof jacket)
- Cadets are to supply:
- black parade shoes (that are polishable)
- black socks (males)
- tights (females)
- Other clothing that is likely to be required and not supplied
- MTP shirt
- MTP trousers
- MTP jacket
- Boots
Cadets will become proud of their uniform and are encouraged to keep it in good order themselves. Do not be upset if your child ask you not to iron their shirt as there are certain ways of doing it and they generally like to iron their own once trained. When they leave the cadets you are asked to make sure the uniform is returned. Boots / shoes are not generally issued and you will need to supply these (we do have a limited supply of second hand shoes & boots for loan).
These can be obtained from eBay or online suppliers such as
Cadet Direct or
British Military Surplus. You will also have to pay their subscriptions on time and an explanation of where the money goes and how Squadrons/DFs are funded is in the next paragraph. Subs are important and prompt payment helps everybody.
British Military Surplus currently have some good deals for
boots & shoes and
MTP. (Click the highlight links to view).
Subscriptions
All organisations need funding. We are luckier than most. The Royal Air Force provide the money for our uniforms, premises, flying and several other activities your child may take part in. However many other activities are not covered and have to be funded by the squadron. To do this each Squadron has a Civilian Committee, also volunteers who are responsible for raising and spending these “Non Public Funds”. Some money from each cadet also goes to fund activities at Wing level such as sport, training courses etc. You can be assured that your contributions are well cared for and spent on the cadets and their activities. Currently subs are £8 per week for this squadron, currently invoiced at 6 monthly intervals (£48) unless otherwise requested. The payment is required whether your child attends all parades in the period concerned or not. No refunds will be given if they leave in a period for which you have paid. Secondly, our squadron is registered for Gift Aid, which means that if at least one of the parents/guardians is a tax payer by them signing a simple form and returning it to the Squadron, we can claim a further 23p in the pound of subscriptions paid directly from the Inland Revenue. This will make a great difference.
Helping the Civilian Committee/Squadron
As the Squadron is run on a voluntary basis, we welcome the support of parents.
We are always looking for new Staff within the squadron, especially female staff and new members for the Civilian Committee. The biggest source of these new people is the parents of cadets. If you feel you might be interested in joining the Squadron staff either as a Civilian Instructor or as a uniformed member or if you think you could spend a little time helping on the Civilian Committee please contact the Commanding Officer who will be pleased to talk about it to you. There is no doubt that being a part of our organisation is very worthwhile to adults and young people alike.
Other Costs and Hardship
The more your child is involved in the more may be the costs. General funding is by the subscriptions you already pay but camps in the UK and abroad and adventure training etc may lead to additional costs which you will be asked to pay. These will always be the minimum we can make them. We also realise that there are cases of hardship among parents who are out of work or have large families etc. and we can address genuine hardship in several ways so that the cadet does not miss out. Please talk to the Commanding Officer in confidence if you have a problem.
Contact us
We value any feedback you are able to give, please contact us email. You are also welcome to visit us on a parade night, we would be pleased to see you.
These can be obtained from eBay or online suppliers such as Cadet Direct or British Military Surplus. You will also have to pay their subscriptions on time and an explanation of where the money goes and how Squadrons/DFs are funded is in the next paragraph. Subs are important and prompt payment helps everybody.