Following 12 months of planning and preparation, 40 cadets from across the East Midlands ACF and CCF (A) plus a contingent of 16 RN Volunteer Cadet Corps , 18 Cadet Force Adult Volunteers from across the ACF, CCF and VCC along with 2 Cadet Training team members completed their expedition to Cyprus for a week of amazing opportunities and challenging activities. The advance party arrived on 18 October 2023 to take over all activities ready for the main party departing on 21 October 2022 from Manchester, Bristol and Edinburgh, with their cases to hand, leaving behind the miserable weather and waking up to a beautiful clear blue sky, ideal for the activities they faced. All were ready for their first day adjusting to the climate with a visit to the garrison swimming pool, which gave them an opportunity to relax and retake their swim test to allow them to do the scuba diving.
The aim of the expedition was to provide the participants with an inclusive opportunity to come together and engage in activities unique to Cyprus, with the emphasis on outdoor pursuits. During the week the cadets and adult volunteers engaged in multi-activities which provided the staff and cadets opportunities to develop self-reliance, leadership and teamwork.
In particular, cadets and adults had the opportunity to participate in a Try-Dive Scuba Diving experience in the beautiful coastlines around Cyprus, with all saying that it was a life changing experience and one they would most certainly want to do this activity again. The cadets and the adults spent a day mountain biking and a day hill walking allowing everyone to experience these challenging activities. The mountain biking plan worked by hiring the bikes from the Garrison Gymnasium, teaching in the morning, using the ATG DT MBF syllabus as a guideline and including everything from M Check to Power Assisted Manuals and Roll Offs, which gave the cadets the confidence that their bikes were safe and that they were safe to ride them. Throughout the week, out of 55 cadets only 4 were unable to take part in this challenging environment high up in the Troodos Mountains. Halfway around the bike route was the Troodos Visitor Centre, which proved to be interesting to the cadets.
Following a recce in March 23, the instructors were able to identify an excellent hill walking route and, with sound briefing and thorough checks prior to the start of the activity, they ensured that the cadets were adequately clothed and prepared and the outcome was a thoroughly enjoyable AT experience which allowed the cadets to enjoy a great walk while improving their navigation skills and confidence to brief a group through the challenging Troodos Mountains and find time to take loads of photographs with the Ulysses flag in hand.
In addition to the mountain biking and hill walking, the groups moved rotated round a range of other activities each day, ensuring every adult and cadet took part in all the activities, and allowing for an amazing time to be had by all throughout the week. At the Episkopi Garrison Water Sports Centre located at Tunnel Beach, all were able to take part in a well organised experience of paddle boarding, kayaking, water skiing, as well as taking boat trips to cultural locations to see the turtles plus beach sports and followed at the end of each day with a beach BBQ.
One of the highlights again this year was the Try Dive. Each group of cadets and adults had passed a swimming test prior to attending this activity, and, since none of these cadets or most of the adults had ever experienced scuba diving, this activity was exciting for them all; they really did give a thumbs up afterwards as diving in the coastal waters around Cyprus, the weather conditions and the lovely blue water is something to behold, although not something you would want to do in the UK in the middle of October.
Friday saw all the groups being mixed up and having a go at clay shooting where they had the opportunity of three different ranges to try their hand at hitting moving clay targets. The groups also had an opportunity to revisit tunnel beach WSC and have one extra day of paddle boarding, kayaking, scuba diving to improve on what they had learned in their previous group sessions. Friday also allowed a small group of interested cadets to spend half a day on an engagement visit to 1LANCS, the Resident Infantry Battalion (RIB), where they explained their roles and responsibilities and also showed the cadets some of their equipment.
The end of the week gave an opportunity for all to visit the cultural locations and explore Kolossi Castle and the Kourion Archaeological Site, and experience views over the sea, armed with their workbooks to capture the information. Saturday night saw the RN Volunteer Cadet Corps depart back to the UK, after an amazing week. We received very nice feedback comments from them, thanking us for inviting them to take part in the opportunity.
The photos clearly demonstrate the benefit of this expedition and that we achieved our aim to bring together people from across the UK, meet for the first time, work together and importantly the cadets were able to enjoy the experience of completing adventurous and challenging experiences that they would not normally have the opportunity to carry out in the UK, especially in October, the added bonus as an outcome, the cadets passed their 2-star Adventure Training in their Army Cadet Syllabus and some of the cadets used this as a DofE Award Scheme Residential.
All of this was only achievable with the support of the grants and donations we received.
The OC was also very fortunate to be invited to discuss the expedition content on BFBS Cyprus radio station, another experience for some of the adults and cadets that attended the interview. In addition, the cadet ambassador Big Phil Campion discussed the expedition to Cyprus every day on his radio show.
“Thank you so much for giving me the most amazing experience of my life. I’ve made so many wonderful friends for life and got to experience things I didn’t think I would ever be able to experience. As this was my last cadet camp before aging out I’d like to thank each and every adult volunteer for putting in so much work to make this exercise happen and for letting me experience a once in a life time opportunity like this before leaving.” LCpl B
“Thank you so much for allowing us cadets to embark on such an amazing experience in Cyprus, it was a truly incredible journey and one that I will never forget. ! Cpl CS
Parents also commented: “Thank you to you all from the bottom of my heart. You have provided an absolutely amazing experience for this group of cadets. Adventures that will last them a lifetime. ”
“My son has had a brilliant week. He has met new people, had new experiences and is loving his tan! Thank you for organising and thank you to the leaders for making it a great week.”
“On behalf of my son and myself I just want to say a huge thank you to every single person involved in organising and bringing this incredible opportunity to us. It has been an unforgettable experience and I feel proud that my son is involved with such a fabulous organisation. Thank you.”
“Just wanted to say, a massive thank you for the great experience the cadets have had in Cyprus. A big thank you to all the staff for all the hard work put in the program. My daughter really enjoyed. Thanks once again.”
“Thank you so much for selecting my son (HMS Collingwood) for this once in a life time experience which has enabled him to be part of so many amazing opportunities. This been a huge boost for his independence and confidence and even brought him out of his shell to express on video his gratitude to all the sponsors and units involved.”
The Ulysses Trust also wish to thank the generosity of Army Sport for supporting this expedition britisharmysport.com
