Youth turn out for air and sea

This weekend we have seen and been involved in a series of events which have helped to show us that while out-of-control teenagers hit the headlines, we have in the Island large numbers of young people who are actively involved in making the most of their life in Jersey. After a good day out at the Footie Fun Fest yesterday, we thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere of enthusiasm that surrounded the beginning of the annual sea cadets' gun-pull, when a 21-ft replica field gun is pulled along most of 40 miles of Jersey roads. This year cadets of the Jersey Sea Cadet Island Charity Gun Pull chose Parkinson's Jersey to be the recipients of their fund-raising. The young men and women listened intently as Eileen Smith of Parkinson's Jersey explained a little about this distressing condition and the help and support the group supply to sufferers and their carers, before our Lieutenant-Governor, Lieut-General Andrew Ridgway sent them on their way, led by the indefatigable Swasie Turner, a former police office and now proud honorary member of the Royal Marines who has made fund-raising his life.
A short while later, we were at St Luke's Church where we attended a service of thanksgiving and re-dedication marking the 67th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. The cadets of the Air Training Corps Victoria Collage Combined Cadet Force and 7 (Overseas) Squadron, Air Training Corps, were a credit to their officers as they presented the flag for re-dedication and formed an honour guard from the church to the War Cemetery where the official party laid wreaths.