The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant and damaging impact on thousands of cadet units across the UK affecting over 120,000 cadets.
In its 2021 report on Cadet Force numbers the Ministry of Defence stated, “The COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe disruption to the Cadet Forces… The impact of the lockdowns on cadet and Cadet Force Adult Volunteer (CFAV) numbers has varied across Cadet Forces but they all have struggled to maintain normal levels of recruitment.”
Here’s an example of how the pandemic affected Army Cadets in Scotland.
“The impact of COVID-19 to the ACF in Glasgow and Lanarkshire Bn ACF has been varied during different times. During the lockdown period, where we were not running face-to-face training, a lot of units went virtual but the number of cadets and CFAVs participating dwindled after a time due to zoom fatigue etc. Most of the detachments suffered from a drop in numbers for both cadets and CFAVs for various reasons, not least the need to prioritise work and family commitments for the CFAVs and different priorities for cadets.
“We have found that we lost a lot of senior cadets due to lack of progression and they were aging out so would leave and some of the new adult instructors were waiting a long time to carry out mandatory training and therefore were unable to take part in training so would just move onto something else. Our more experienced adults tended to try and keep engaging but even then there was a drop off of some due to the fact they were not technologically-minded and could not keep up with technology.
“The lack of outdoor training etc has affected the wellbeing and mindset of the cadets and CFAVs leading to a drop-off in numbers.
“On the positive side when we eventually got back to face-to-face training, the numbers of new recruits coming in increased, possibly due to young people wanting to get out and do something.”
Colonel A M McNamee | Glasgow and Lanarkshire Bn ACF
KEY POINTS
- The Trust has awarded a grant of £10,000 to Glasgow and Lanarkshire Bn ACF for a skiing exped. to Austria in 2022.
- The pandemic hindered the unit’s and cadets’ own fundraising. Our grant ensured this opportunity was affordable to all, regardless of circumstances.
- The Ulysses Trust has supported 5 expeditions for Glasgow & Lanarkshire Battalion since 2011.
“Offering overseas skiing to our young people is a unique selling point which helps attract new recruits. Our aim is to extend the cadet experience to all of our young people, irrespective of family finances. We are based in Glasgow city and a third of our cadets are ‘looked after’ children or from single-parent families.”
Capt Alec Stirling MBE, Detachment Commander, A Troop RA ACF