Daughter off to camp...

pulliptears

neneromanova wrote: »

I miss my Air Cadet Camping in the lake district. It was literally the best time in my life. Hiking, camping, being with people of different ages and making new friends. It was SUCH good fun I can honestly say, as a 13 year old, the last thing that came into my mind was being away from family. I did ring home once to check in and did cry, but then forgot all about it with my new friends.

Let her know that I'm jealous of her! Big Time. I hope my kids will want to do air cadets like I did.

Thats reassuring as well! They are off to Newquay where I believe they will be doing a bit of gliding as well as surfing and the like. She doesn't even seem phased at the 7am starts!
Who is this child and where is my daughter!?:eek:

welshsue

My son joined Air Cadets in January once he reached 13. He went on his first camp (RAF Linton on Ouse) with them last week and loved every minute of it. They were woken at 6am every morning, into the showers, then march to breakfast (full cooked), full days actiities i.e went for day trips, did an obstacle course, went on rifle range, did first powered flight and actually flew it. They were given packed lunches every day, full cooked meal in the evening and they had a club to go to in the evening. He made so many friends and they have kept in touch and are hoping to meet up again over the hols.
I was more nervous about him going away i.e looking after all his kit, keeping his stuff tidy etc etc (he doesn't do it at home), the sleeping quarters were imaculate, he even ironed his kit.....
I wouldn't worry about her, I'm sure she will have a wonderful time and it will be a great experience for her.

balletshoes

this sounds brill - how old do they have to be to join the cadets ?????

welshsue

13 for air cadets. Assume the same for army and sea cadets.

pulliptears

welshsue wrote: »

My son joined Air Cadets in January once he reached 13. He went on his first camp (RAF Linton on Ouse) with them last week and loved every minute of it. They were woken at 6am every morning, into the showers, then march to breakfast (full cooked), full days actiities i.e went for day trips, did an obstacle course, went on rifle range, did first powered flight and actually flew it. They were given packed lunches every day, full cooked meal in the evening and they had a club to go to in the evening. He made so many friends and they have kept in touch and are hoping to meet up again over the hols.
I was more nervous about him going away i.e looking after all his kit, keeping his stuff tidy etc etc (he doesn't do it at home), the sleeping quarters were imaculate, he even ironed his kit.....
I wouldn't worry about her, I'm sure she will have a wonderful time and it will be a great experience for her.

Another reassuring post! RAF St Mawgan is their destination, pleased to hear your DS did fly as thats her main wish. Its nice to hear they have some freetime of an evening to socialise as well

balletshoes wrote: »

this sounds brill - how old do they have to be to join the cadets ?????

they have to be 13 and can stay in the Air Cadets up to 21. Not sure about other Cadets but DD's fire guns, fly, play sports, camp, parade etc as well as doing the Duke of Edinburgh which is a brilliant scheme anyway.

Uniform is provided for them too (parade uniform, you still need to buy footwear and greens uniform) and we pay £15 a month to her unit as they run their own mini bus etc. Leftover monies pay for paintballing days etc.

welshsue

pulliptears wrote: »

Another reassuring post! RAF St Mawgan is their destination, pleased to hear your DS did fly as thats her main wish. Its nice to hear they have some freetime of an evening to socialise as well



they have to be 13 and can stay in the Air Cadets up to 21. Not sure about other Cadets but DD's fire guns, fly, play sports, camp, parade etc as well as doing the Duke of Edinburgh which is a brilliant scheme anyway.

Uniform is provided for them too (parade uniform, you still need to buy footwear and greens uniform) and we pay £15 a month to her unit as they run their own mini bus etc. Leftover monies pay for paintballing days etc.

We pay £8 per month for our son. They also have their own mini bus for trips etc. They meet 2 nights a week and occasionally have a fun night where they meet up with another squadron. They are doing that tonight.. just need to take a couple of pound for chips/drink if they want to.
It obviously varies between areas/squadrons.

We had both blue uniforms supplied and had to buy greens, boots and shoes (Greens and boots cost £50) so not cheap but necessary and worn a fair bit.

neverdespairgirl

I'm sure she'll be fine - probably far too busy to miss home!

I went on a week-long school trip to the Isle of Wight when I was 9, and still remember it now. It was the first time I'd been away from my parents at night, other than with my grandparents, or one night at a local friend's. And it was fantastic!

I also went to boarding school at 11, and did miss home a lot - but that's a different kettle of fish altogether.

looby75

even if she does miss you and hates every moment of it it will still be an experience she'll never forget lol

My daughter went on the tall ships earlier this month for 11 days. She HATED it and text me and her bf constantly about how horrible it was. I was so disappointed for her and worried sick about her (stupid cos she's 18 lol) Yet since she came home it's all she's talked about lol

There_Goes_Trouble

I was in Army cadets and loved it. I still have some fabulous friends from those days (it's 20 years since I left) and we often sit and talk about the old days together.

Camp was amazing, I never wanted to come home!

pulliptears

We have just been crying with laughter as she put her Bergen on her back and promptly fell over backwards. So funny as she's such a slight little thing and this bloomin bag is as big as she is!

She's very excited, has addressed a couple of envelopes, stuck stamps on and informed me she 'will write you know!'. I'm not entirely convinced she will manage to repack for the journey home quite as well as we packed to go down (think the Krypton Factor with a backpack and small suitcase) but we have had a laugh tonight.

Thanks for all the reassurances, it will be a hard week for us here I imagine but I hope she has as wonderful an experience as those you have all shared with me.
x