Chichester Sea Cadets help name new flagship

Named in her honour, the flagship the TS Royalist was named in front of 300 Sea Cadets and supporters in Canary Wharf in London.

TS Royalist is the first tall ship to be commissioned in the UK for 15 years.

The three Sea Cadets - Petty Officer Cadet Natalie, Able Cadet Billie and Ordinary Cadet Owen, have the privilege of being part of the first crew of 24 new cadets to sail the brand new flagship.

They went onboard the day before the ceremony and stayed on the ship overnight before sailing into Canary Wharf for the ceremony.

Sea Cadets is a national youth charity that offers life skills development.

The charity raised £4.8m for the new ship, which replaces the former flagship, decommissioned last year after 43 years of service.

The new vessel will support 900 young people on a week long voyage at sea every year.

It offers a unique environment where they can find inspiration and confidence as they work together as a team, navigating Britain’s coastal waters.

It is the pinnacle of the Sea Cadet experience and one which over 30,000 young people have enjoyed since 1971.

Petty Officer Cadet Natalie, age 17 from Chichester, said: “I’ve increased my confidence, gained new qualifications, travelled the world and made friends for life. Sea Cadets have helped me have a good head start in life.”

For more information, visit www.sea-cadets.org.

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.

1) Make our website your homepage at www.chichester.co.uk/

2) Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ChichesterObserver

3) Follow us on Twitter @Chiobserver

4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!

The Chichester Observer - always the first with your local news.

Be part of it.