On Sunday 6th of April, 1224 (Wharfedale) Squadron held their Annual Dinner and Awards Presentations. In a change from previous years, the ‘dinner’ this year was in fact a Sunday Lunch!
The event was a chance to showcase what the Cadets on the
Squadron have achieved over the past year and attracted a number of dignitaries
including Her Majesty’s Deputy Lord
Lieutenant for West Yorkshire, Mr Roger Whittaker and his wife Elizabeth,
former Commandant Air Cadets, Air Commodore Ian Stewart and his wife Rosemary,
Squadron Leader John Hitchen, Sector 5 Commander Central & East Yorkshire
Wing, Squadron Leader Andy Blaikie from South & West Yorkshire Wing, Former
Officer Commanding 1224 Squadron and now Projects Officer for Air Cadet Music
Services Flight Lieutenant Sue Leighton and her husband Mark, North Region
Music Officer Flight Lieutenant Max Puller and Company Sergeant Major Darren
Harvey-Hill, from the Royal Military Police.
The afternoon started with the lunch, which was followed by
the presentation of certificates that had been earned, by the cadets over the
past 12 months, these included Classification Certificates, DofE Awards, BTECs,
Marksmanship Awards and Flying Scholarship Certificated. There were also Certificates
of Appointment presented to several staff members.
After the presentation of the certificates it was time for
the trophy presentations, the winners were:
Attendance Trophy – Cadet
Pearce Todd
The Warrant Officers
Trophy and the Warrant Officers Cup for the cadet and NCO each earning the
highest points for consistently having best turnout over the last year were
presented to Cadet Aiden Holmes and Sergeant Karl Verspyck respectively
The White Rose Trophy
for most promising new marksman – Cadet
Jemima Spence
West Riding Wing Cup for
Sport – Corporal Daniel Chivers
The Inter-Flight
Competition Trophy (first awarded in 1941) was collected by Flight Sergeant Callum Parker and Sergeant Jørgen Moore on behalf of A
Flight
The Ian (Charlie) Clarke
Memorial Trophy for Community Service, named in memory of a young Airman who
was killed in a road accident in Addingham in 1991 was won by Corporal Bailey Ryan
Percussionist of the Year – Cadet Tom Kraft
Musician of the Year – Flight
Sergeant Kjersti Moore
Best New Cadet – Cadet
Charlie Franks
Tesco Trophy for Best Intermediate Cadet – Corporal Tom Hepworth
Millennium Trophy for Best Senior Cadet – Corporal Bailey Ryan
The David Stead Memorial Trophy for Cadet Of The
Year, presented in memory of Flight Lieutenant David Stead, a former cadet of
1224 who was sadly killed, along with his crew, when the C-130 Hercules he was
piloting was shot down over Iraq in January 2005 was won by Corporal Daniel Chivers
Flight Sergeant
Callum Parker won the Commanding Officers Cup for his dedication to training and leadership
Corporal Tom Hepworth
won the Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA) Airedale & Wharfedale Salver,
awarded to the cadet who collects the highest amount for RAFA over the year
The Squadron was also presented with awards for being the highest
collecting ATC unit in both the Yorkshire and Northern areas.
Warrant Officer (ATC)
David Wood was also presented with an award for being the highest
collecting Adult volunteer in the area.
There were also several promotions made during the awards,
they were:
To Corporal: Max
Franks, Hannah Mayfield and Ashleigh Smith
To Sergeant: Tom
Hepworth and Bailey Ryan
To Flight Sergeant: Jack
Bacon, Jørgen Moore, Karl
Verspyck and Lisa Whitaker
The band also played sets throughout the
afternoon playing songs such as Eye of Tiger, a John Williams Medley, The Air
Cadet March and When I’m Gone (from the film Pitch Perfect) amongst other pieces.
Overall the evening was a huge success and we
cannot wait for next years event!
