Cadets honoured for record breaking Poppy Appeal

Cadet Jade Swann of 1263 (Rochdale) Squadron who raised the third highest individual amount for Air Training Corps of £1,556.88 with the Lord Lieutenant

‘Remarkable’ cadets and officers from Manchester raised nearly £160,000 for the national Poppy Appeal and won high praise from the Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester.

Young Sea, Army and Air Cadets in Greater Manchester alone raised nearly £135,000 with additional money coming from officer units, colleges and other groups.

Second in the Unit winners were TS Tremadoc (Middleton) Sea Cadet Corps raising £4,674.84 and Cadet Jade Swann of 1263 (Rochdale) Squadron Air Training Corps who raised the third highest individual amount for Air Training Corps of £1,556.88.

At a prestigious awards ceremony at University Barracks, Manchester, on Wednesday 20th February, Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester Colonel Warren J Smith said: “Five years ago, when I first started presenting these awards, you raised more than £75,000 then £100,000 and now you have exceeded £150,000. It is a remarkable achievement but we are dealing with a group of remarkable young people.”

Air Cadet Lewis Taylor, from 2200 Oldham Squadron, personally raised £5,223.63 – nearly 40 per cent of his squadron’s award winning total of £13,418.77. He dedicating 56 hours in a week to the appeal helping Oldham Squadron raise more than any other cadet group taking part in this year’s Greater Manchester competition.

Lewis, 15, said: “I turned up at The Spindles Shopping Centre every morning at 9am and stayed until 5pm for seven days. Several people bought more than one poppy from me and people were putting notes in for a single poppy. It was a shock to me that I raised so much. It gives me a great sense of achievement; I feel like I have created a positive image of youth to the community. It shows that young people can be good.”

He was fortunate to have time off from Waterhead Academy because his school was closed while students changed campus.

And it was a good night for Oldham cadets with TS Onslow raising the highest figure for Sea Cadets of £6,058.69. Onslow’s Leading Cadet Chloe Lane retained the individual trophy she won last year as the top fund-raising Sea Cadet having personally raised £2,184.50.

Chloe, 17, said: “I spent a lot of my free time from college collecting and selling poppies at Tesco. Everyone was really friendly and I had people donating £20 notes for poppy pin badges. It is a good way of me giving back.”

Able Cadet Luke Norton, 16, also from TS Onslow, raised the second highest Sea Cadet figure of £1,280.11. He said: “It is good that the money we raise goes towards people that have fought for their country. They have served their time and now we are serving to help them.”

Bolton Army Cadet Force was the unit winner having raised £7,925.91 and the top army cadet was Connor Salter from Royton ACF who raised £845.21.

Greater Manchester Vice-President of The Royal British Legion Wing Commander David Forbes said: "We have more than 60 cadet forces in the Greater Manchester area with more than 4,000 young cadets. I am extremely proud of their efforts to raise money for the Poppy Appeal and their fantastic achievements richly deserved the accolades they received at the awards ceremony.

”This is the 17th Poppy Appeal competition we have held – when it started in 1996 the first appeal raised £8,674 and now we raise nearly £160,000.”

Overall Winning Unit – 2200 (Oldham) Squadron
Overall Winning Cadet – Cadet Lewis Taylor 2200 (Oldham) Squadron

Unit winners
Sea Cadet Corps
1st TS Onslow (Oldham) £6,058.69
2nd TS Tremadoc (Middleton) £4,674.84
3rd TS Talisman (Altrincham and Sale) £3,580.40

Individual winners
1st Leading Cadet Chloe Lane (TS Onslow) £2,184.50
2nd Able Cadet Luke Norton (TS Onslow) £1,280.11
3rd Corporal Joseph Moran (TS Talisman) £1,153.78
Most improved – TS Trafalgar (Manchester)

Army Cadet Force
1st Bolton £7,925.91
2nd Bury £6,125.89
3rd Cheadle Hulme £4,404.84

Individual winners
1st Cadet Connor Salter, Royton, £845.21
2nd Cadet Liam Williams, Belle Vue, £727.32
3rd Cadet Lauren Hartley, Belle Vue, £545.49
Most Improved – Kings Royal Hussars (Wigan)

Air Training Corps
1st 2200 Oldham Squadron £13,418.77
2nd 1471 Horwich Squadron £5,028.62
3rd 317 Failsworth Squadron £4,305.12

Individual winners
1st Cadet Lewis Taylor, Oldham, £5,223.63
2nd Cadet Zack Warburton, Oldham, £1,817.09
3rd Cadet Jade Swann, Rochdale, £1,556.88
Most improved – 2200 Oldham Squadron