Inspirational Islanders: Ryde Sea Cadets

Ryde Sea Cadets aim to give young people an experience that will help them grow in confidence and develop valuable life skills in a safe and friendly environment. Spending as much time on the water as possible, the cadets learn teamwork, respect and self-discipline through a range of different activities from sailing, windsurfing and powerboating to rock climbing, camping, and music.

“The Island is a great place to live, as we are surrounded by water so there’s lots of places for the Sea Cadets to go out on boats!

We might be biased, but our favourite beach has to be our very own one in Ryde! We have spent many evenings over the summers on Ryde beach. The cadets learn leadership skills, play games and practise their seamanship skills.

Our favourite Island place is Island Harbour at Newport as that’s where our Royal Yachting Association registered boating station is, but we also love visiting Jersey Camp in Porchfield regularly throughout the year. We have our annual camp there, with sea cadets from Bognor Regis, Chichester, Littlehampton, Gosport, Portsmouth, Worthing and Cowes and get to do a range of activities such as rifle shooting, rowing, sailing and expeditions!

Although there are loads of great places to walk on the Isle of Wight, as cadets, our preferred way to explore is to paddle! We love to explore from our base at Newport, but we also enjoy Bembridge Harbour and Ryde Harbour. We are just lucky there are many places the Island offers!

We are a charity that relies solely on self-funding, so every donation we receive is greatly appreciated as it directly supports the development of young people’s confidence. Thanks to the sponsorship from Wightlink, we are able to participate in competitions, regattas, and training on the mainland. For some of our cadets, simply getting off the Island is a new and exciting experience.”

ℹ️ To learn more about the scheme visit our Wightlink in the Community pages or stay up to date with the latest news at facebook.com/wightlinkinthecommunity.