A cadet from Burnham-On-Sea & Highbridge Sea Cadets has travelled to the House of Lords in London for a ceremony after being nominated for a prestigious award.
Petty Officer Cadet Philippa attended the prizegiving ceremony at the annual Westminster Award competition run by the Cadet Vocational College (CVC).
Up to 2,000 cadets from all of the UK’s uniformed youth organisations that are enrolled on, or have completed, the BTEC Level 2 Diploma in Teamwork and Personal Skills in the Community are eligible to be nominated for the Westminster Award.
A rigorous five-stage process whittles the number of candidates down to just 15 finalists who, as part of the selection process, also achieve the ILM Level 3 Award in Leadership & Management.
Petty Officer Cadet Philippa is the only cadet from the Burnham and Highbridge Sea Cadets Unit to be nominated in the 20-year history of the award, the theme of which is to “Think Global, Act Local”. She was one of just three Sea Cadets across the UK to be shortlisted as one of the 15 finalists.
Thursday’s visit to the House of Lords, hosted by The Right Honorable the Lord Lingfield, was an opportunity for the finalists to be presented with their ILM awards, as well as to learn the result of the Westminster Award itself which ultimately went to Cadet WO Casey from Cleveland Army Cadet Force.
Philippa says: “The opportunities resulting from taking part in this award process have meant I’ve not only learned more about myself and become a better leader and follower, but I’ve made friends for life as well.”
“I’ve earned a leadership and management award from ILM that I wouldn’t normally expect to get for several years yet, and experienced different ways of thinking that will enable me to come back to Burnham and make a real difference there as well.”
“Most of all I’ve learned that our uniforms may be different but that is also what unifies us and makes us a stronger team as a result.”
“I’ll be undertaking a fundraising project shortly to raise money for a variety of charities that I worked with during the final selection week have already set up a GoFundMe page.”
Philippa was supported in London by her parents Fiona and Stephen with her dad flying in from his home in Oman for the occasion, and the Sea Cadet Unit’s Commanding Officer, Lt (SCC) Dom Gregory RNR.
The presentation event was also attended by the Chief Executives of the Ulysses Trust Captain Polly Marsh DL and Marine Society and Sea Cadets Mr Martin Coles CBE, as well as by the Secretary of State for Education the Right Honorable Gillian Keegan MP.
Dom added: “Philippa is without doubt one of the finest young leaders I’ve ever had the privilege of working with in the last 20 years of volunteering with the Sea Cadets. And given that my team and I have supported some amazing young people over the years she’s at the top of an exclusive list.”
“I’m enormously proud of her and can see her influence rippling out in our other cadets, growing their self-esteem and confidence by the example she sets.”
POC Philippa has consistently stepped forward during her cadet service from when she joined a few days after her tenth birthday. She is a fully-qualified paddlesports instructor and dinghy instructor and has represented England on the world stage in the demanding sport of surf kayaking and is currently ranked No 4 in the world in her age class.
Philippa serves as HM Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet for Somerset appointed in October 2022, handing over responsibility for the role to another Burnham Sea Cadet on Thursday 21 September. She represents the views of cadets throughout the South West to both the Area and National senior management teams informing and driving policy for the wider charity.
Philippa will be seeking to become a CVC Ambassador in the coming months encouraging participation in the vocational qualifications offered by the college to cadets of all cap badges and organisations and potentially becoming part of the assessment team for future Westminster Award finalists.
Earlier this month, we reported Burnham and Highbridge Sea Cadets received £1,500 to support their youth work.
