National Air and Space Camp

The annual National Air and Space Camp takes place at RAF Syerston over a week in August and this year and we were super excited to attend the Industry Day on 21 August 2024 to see first-hand not only the amazing achievements of the camp organisers, but the support and sponsorship that the Air Cadet Charity has given to the camp this year.

The camp enables cadets and CFAVs from across the Royal Air Force Air Cadets to take part in specialist aviation, engineering, space and cyber training and experiences. Mid-week is an Industry Day which brings together more cadets, volunteers, industry partners, professional institutions and charities.

We were delighted to meet the cadets that attended the camp along with an impressive number of cadets and volunteers who joined on the Industry day. It was a great opportunity to see the clothing and water bottles that we funded being used effectively and to have the privilege of talking with cadets, volunteers and industry partners about the work that the Air Cadet Charity do to support the RAF Air Cadets.

This year also saw the first year of an Inspire Stage that we were excited to sponsor, the stage is a brand-new platform for guest speakers from the aerospace industry to tell cadets their stories, achievements and give advice on how they too could achieve their own career goals!

What an amazing day, despite how windy it was! It was a delight to talk to amazing young people and volunteers who make what we do as a charity extremely worthwhile.

We must also say a special thanks to Redbox VR for the kind loan of their prototype simulator which was a real hit with the cadets and all who attended, some of the trustees even had a go! At points during the day we ended up with a queue of enthusiastic cadets outside our gazebo who were all keen to pilot their own virtual aircraft.

I think it is safe to say that a great day was had by all, especially us!