Ship's Log 2008 click here for previous years' Ship's Logs
 

23rd December - Cadets Christmas Karaoke Night
With the newly purchased Karaoke machine and music Cadets entertained their friends, Staff and UMC members to some wonderful and tuneful renditions. AC Roy Rollings and his friends took to the microphone first which lead to a queue of budding X Factor hopefuls (and rejects). Hopefully everyone had an enjoyable time and went home feeling in the Christmas spirit.

2nd December - Advancements
New Entry Pearce - Advancement to Cadet (Cdt)
OC Clayton - 2nd Class Seamanship
Cdt Clayton - 2nd Class Seamanship
Cdt Rees - 2nd Class Seamanship
Cdt Rushin - 2nd Class Seamanship
Cdt Stoneman - 2nd Class Seamanship
***Congratulations & Well Done***

Many thanks to the Instructors from Hinckley unit for their help in running this course.

1st December - Special visitors
TS Tiger kindly opened it's doors to 15 marines from 4 ASRM HMS Bulwark who were taking part in a charity cycle ride from Plymouth to Durham to raise money for Help for Heroes and local Durham charities. They arrived at TS Tiger at approximately 15.15hrs and after a wonderful hot meal they went for a much needed sauna and massage at a local gym.

On Tuesday morning they were fed a hearty breakfast and before leaving Leicester to head to Sheffield they presented Chief PO (SCC) Kim Marshal-Nichols (Chief cook and bottle washer) with a plaque for the unit in gratitude of how welcome they were made to feel and how well they were looked after.

Many thanks to the Staff who stayed at the unit to look after and entertain our visitors and to the parents of Cadets who sponsored a meal for the Marines.

29th November - End of Year Quiz Night
TS Tiger held their last quiz night for this year. It was lovely to meet new teams and we hope you had fun whilst helping us to raise money for the Leicester Sea Cadets.

Many thanks to everyone who has helped this year either in raising funds or working extremely hard to keep everyone fed and watered.

Check the diary in the new year for dates, as we are hoping to hold a Barn Dance in March, an open day in May and a psychic night on . . . . . . . . . :o)

27th November - Awards Evening
TS Tiger invited parents and guardians of Cadets at TS Tiger to their awards night. After Colours guests were split into groups and taken on a guided tours of our unit and were given the chance to sit on lessons to enable them to see what our Cadets learn at the unit. They were then invited to try their hand at some rope work.
After stand easy LC Fitzpatrick gave an entertaining presentation on the C64 course she had been on earlier in the year. The evening ended with the awards being presented.

Best Female & Best Dressed Cadet went to OC Sam Clayton, Best Male to Cdt Ben Clayton, the Personal Achievement went to Cdt Chris Hack with JSC1 Bywater being award Best Junior. The Chairman's award was given to Mr David Hack for all his hard work and enthusiasm in looking after the unit grounds until the early dark nights got the better of him. Gift Cards were presented to LC Lindsey Fitzpatrick, Cdt Eddie Rees & Cdt Chris Hack for their support and attendance at the fetes and galas we have attended in the past year. Many thanks to everyone who attended and well done to all the Cadets of TS Tiger for a lovely evening.

11th November - Remembrance Service, Quorn

Cadets Scott Pearce & Ben Clayton were invited to accompany Stella Thornton, Year 10 Student Manager of Rawlins Community College to the Annual Quorn Remembrance Service held at the Remembrance gardens in Quorn.

Rawlins Community College is proud to lay a wreath on behalf of all students and staff and invite a few students who are involved in the Cadets and Scott & Ben were chosen as ambassadors for the school.

9th November - Remembrance Parade, Birstall
Leicester Sea Cadets were this year invited by the Royal British Legion, Birstall to take part in their Remembrance Day Parade and Service along with 1947 Sqdn ATC other groups and Organisations.

The Parade, marched off by Mr Chris Joyce, made its way from Front Street to St James' Church where the service took place. Following the service the wreath laying ceremony took place where OC Sam Clayton laid a wreath on behalf of Leicester Sea Cadets.

TS Tiger would like to thank the Birstall RBL for inviting us along and for obtaining the wreath for the ceremony.

A contingent of Cadets attended the Remembrance Parades in Wigston and later in Oadby,

Cadets from TS Tiger were invited back to assist with marshalling at this years' event.

Thank you to all who assisted on a wet and cold November night!

26th - 31st October - Inskip Continuation Unit Team Training (CUTT)
17 Cadets along with 4 willing and excited volunteer staff travelled up to Inskip.
Everyone had an excellent time and you can read more about the activities they took part in here

30th October - Lord Lieutenants Cadet Investiture
Leading Cadet L.Fitzpatrick attended the investiture ceremony which was held at County Hall in Leicester where she was appointed as one of the three Lord Lieutenant's Cadets for the coming year and presented with her badge.

Lindsey's first duty as Lord Lieutenant's Cadet will be to accompany Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Leicestershire, The Lady Gretton to the Festival of Remembrance held at the De Montfort Hall on 1st November.

When asked how it feels to be chosen for this role she replied.
"I am proud and honoured to be chosen as a Lord Lieutenant's Cadet and to represent my unit T.S Tiger and the Sea Cadet Corps. In my role of Lord Lieutenant's Cadet, I am looking forward to participating in all my duties and responsibilities in the year ahead."

Lindsey is shown above with the District Officer Lt Cdr (SCC) Paul Perry RNR, Jennifer The Lady Gretton JP and PO Cdt Mark O'Conner the outgoing Cadet from Hinckley Unit.

25th October - Leicester City Remembrance Day Match
Cadets took part in the annual Veterans Parade around the city ground at half time at the special Remembrance Day Football Fixture which is now in its sixth season.
This year saw the Foxes take on Northampton Town.

24th October - Poppy Launch
Victoria Park, Leicester, was awash with medals and flags as cadets from TS Tiger along with army and air cadets paraded up to Lutyens's War Memorial for the Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal launch. The crowds watched cadets march through Victoria Park where they were met by ex-soldiers and members of the Royal British Legion.

19th October - Leicester Marathon
Cadets, Staff, UMC members, willing parents & even the sister of one of our Cadets provided 2 water stations at this years Leicester Marathon, CI Jim Craven completed his half marathon in a fantastic 1 hour and 49 minutes raising money for TS Tiger. Thanks to all the willing hands on the day and a special thanks to CI Craven for his thoughtfulnes in helping the Leicester Sea Cadets.
Also thanks to the chap who donated to us his £1.00 car park fee at Abbey Meadows, just think if everyone in Leicester donated £1 we would be able to have our parade ground resurfaced.

18th October - TS Royalist
Cadets Sam & Ben Clayton, Ed Rees and Niamh Stoneman went on TS Royalist for the week, read Cdt Stoneman's Diary here.

14th October - Unit Advancements
Cdt Weston - RYA Level 1 Sailing
Cdt Flower - Competent Crew
Cdt Clayton - Competent Crew
Cdt Pryor - Competent Crew
Cdt Rees - Competent Crew
Cdt Ledger - Competent Crew
***Congratulations & Well done***

27th September - The TS Tiger Barn Dance
This was our first Barn Dance and what a corker it turned out to be !! Everyone who danced and Dozy Doe'd thoroughly enjoyed it and due to the success of the night we plan to hold another one in March '09.

Many thanks to Alan Beynon for his help on the day and to all the dozy doe'ers who came along to support Leicester Sea Cadets on the night.

13th September - Anstey Gala
Cadets were invited to perform their (now well talked about) musical arms display. UMC and Staff went along to recruit and try to raise much needed funds for the unit. At 1520hrs cadets performed the display for the final time and will be working on a new routine next year due to them having new weapons. Many thanks to everyone who came to see us either at Anstey or at the other events we have attended throughout the year. Well done to all the cadets who were in the team and to the cadets who came along to show support and lend a helping hand.

6th September - Flag Day

Leicester Sea Cadets held their annual flag day at Beaumont shopping centre and raised £280.00 to help keep their unit afloat.  Despite the heavy rain showers the cadets enjoyed meeting people from the community and would like to thank all those who made a donation and to the centre management for allowing them to recruit on the day. 

Without these kind of fundraising activities TS Tiger would struggle to survive so thanks to everyone for their help.

We even had some help from the shopping centre bag lady.

2nd September - Unit Advancements
New Entry Baillie - Advancement to Cadet (Cdt)
Cdt Clayton.B - RYA Level 2 Power Boat
LC Fitzpatrick - RYA Level 1 Power Boat
Cdt Ledger - RYA Level 1 Power Boat
***Congratulations & Well Done***

30th August - Skip Day
UMC, Staff, Cadets & Parents arrived at the unit to take on the task of a clearing day and to fill a skip with unwanted items.

A good day was had by all and many thanks to Mr & Mrs Fitzpatrick for tidying the hedge also thanks to the local PCSO's for the area who came along to lend a much needed hand and kept our cadets firmly under control. Also thanks to the creature from the black lagoon who appeared from the mire and started cutting down the vegetation around the boatshed slip way!!!

16th August - Saffron Summer Fete
UMC, Staff and Cadets were invited to attend the Saffron Summer Fete on Aylestone recreation ground. We had a wonderful busy day, the weather was kind to us and we had lots of visitors. Thanks to all who came to see us and we look forward to seeing you again next year.

A big well done goes to Alex Brooks aged 7 and Callum Mawby who is also 7, they both won on our 'Play your Cards Right' game, remember to come down and see us when you are 10 lads.

9th August - Evington Village Fete

Cadets, Staff and UMC went along to a rainy fete to recruit, fund raise and inform the residents of Evington about TS Tiger and what we do. Many thanks to all who came to chat (well shelter from the rain) and hopefully we will be invited back next year.

5th August - Unit Advancements
Cdt Pryor - 1st Year Good Conduct Stripe
Cdt Rees - 1st Year Good Conduct Stripe
OC Clayton.S - Meteorology Proficiency
OC Warren - Meteorology Proficiency
OC Stoneman - BCU 1 Star
Cdt Flower - BCU 1 Star
J1C Bywater - Awarded Blue Waterborne Activities Badge
J1C Rushin - Awarded Blue Waterborne Activities Badge
***Congratulations & Well Done***

31 July - A Special Visitor
Mr Brian Joy a representative from the HMS Tiger Association came to visit us. He was taken on a tour of the unit and met staff and cadets, later he presented the unit with a framed print of HMS Tiger and also a bottle of Pusser's Rum, which was quickly stashed away.

The HMS Tiger Assoc, who sponsor our website, have 250 members world wide and the visit came after Mr Joy saw the TS Tiger website and contacted us in answer to our appeal for sponsorship. His visit to re-establish links between HMS Tiger & The Leicester Sea Cadets, who took the name TS Tiger in 1955, was greeted with excitement by all at the unit and the print of HMS Tiger will now take pride of place on the deck.

TS Tiger would like to extend an invitation to any members of the association who might like to visit our unit

The image above shows Mr Joy presenting the print to our First Lieut, Chief PO(SCC) Kim Marshal-Nichols. The image left shows the print of HMS Tiger, C20, before she was re-commissioned as a helicopter and commando cruiser or, as one ex Tiger wag put it "before the horrible tin shed was put on".

19th to 26th July 2008 - C64 Adventure & Military Training Course
LC L.Fitzpatrick took part in this course. Course C64 is designed to give older cadets (15-18 years of age) a different, exciting and challenging experience.  Amongst its aims are to give an introduction to the sort of activities entailed in a life in the armed forces and emergency services.  This does not mean the course is only intended for those considering a career in the military or emergency services.  Any cadet with a sense of adventure will benefit.

While she was there LC Linz Fitzpatrick kept a log and took many photos. To see her experiences and share in the sense of fun and excitement had whilst on the course click here

6th July - Cancer Research Race For Life
The 2008 Race for Life took place on Western Park and once again Cadets from TS Tiger assisted with the marshalling. Well done to all the Cadets who helped out despite the heavy showers and occasional rumble of thunder!

Despite the weather a really good time was had by all at the event so well done to all of you who took part.

Picture courtesy of Leicester Sound, click here for more photos of the race for life on the Leicester Sound Website.

14th - 15th June - The Giant Sleepover
On the night of Saturday 14 June 2008, thousands of children all around the world joined together to have LOTS OF FUN and to raise bags of money for Save the Children. They are also hoping to break the 2006 Guinness World Record for the 'biggest simultaneous sleepover across multiple locations'.
Cadets also took part in the Aquafresh “Minty Mouth Challenge” for two minutes on Sunday at 9.00am all the Cadets who took part in The Giant Sleepover – and hopefully all volunteers, organisers and parents were brushing their teeth at the same time in a fun ‘Simultaneous Tooth Brushing’ session.

7th & 8th June - Leicester Riverside Festival
This weekend is one of Leicester's largest outdoor events, which is sponsored by Riverside Housing. Cadets and Staff attended in an official capacity to provide safety boat cover whilst UMC members were on hand for fundraising and recruiting. The Cadets who were not on the boats sold a whopping 132 quiz sheets and the recruitment stand was extremely busy so thanks to everyone who bought a quiz sheet and who came to chat with us. Many thanks to Simon Brown, Festival & Events organiser for arranging the weekend and we hope to be there again next year.

22nd May - Royal Naval Parade
Our RNP (part of the annual Unit Review) took place and the Cadets showed off their abilities to an audience of parents, invited guests and the Eastern Area Commander, Cdr C Smith RN.

Many thanks to J1C Lloyd-McLear's mum for the photos.

J1C Sian Lloyd-McLear during the evolutions

15th May - Mayormaking Ceremony

Cadets attended the annual Mayor making ceremony at the Town Hall in Leicester to welcome in the new Lord Mayor of Leicester, Councillor Manjula Sood. TS Tiger would like to wish her every success for the forthcoming year.

8th May - HMS Quorn visits TS Tiger
Lieutenant Jon Fletcher RN, Navigator of HMS Quorn paid a visit to our unit to see first hand what the Sea Cadets do. During the evening he toured the unit whilst the Cadets practiced their evolutions ready for the RNP. After stand-easy he watched some of the cadets out on the water and others who were practicing drill.

This was his first visit to a Sea Cadet Unit and at the end of his visit he said "From Rugrats to the Leading Cadets, you should all be very proud. You are a credit to the staff who all do a wonderful job". he then went on to say that he would inform the ships company of HMS Quorn that they should be proud to have TS Tiger affiliated to them.

25th - 27th April - National Drill & Piping Comp

LC Liam Scott went along to HMS Raleigh to take part in the National Drill & Piping competition representing Eastern Area. Although Liam did not win, he came in the top 10, he said he had enjoyed the experience but was glad when it was over, and now knows what the standard is like ready for next time!

Well done Liam.

Click here for info about Piping and the Boatswain's Call

4th April - Juniors day at Twin Lakes

CPO(SCC) K. Marshall-Nichols along with PO(SCC) K. Derbyshire took the junior sea cadets and two senior cadets to Twinlakes for an Easter treat.

More pictures on the Juniors page

31st March - Activities 4 u day
CPO(SCC) K. Marshall-Nichols along with Leading Cadet Fitzpatrick & AC Rollings attended the event which was to celebrate the launch of the new activities4u website which gives young people instant access to information about activities they can get involved in locally.

Over 100 people took up the chance to check out the types of activities they can find out about on www.activities4u.org. Taster sessions included basketball skills, street dance, dance mats, art, circus skills, music production, samba drumming and a climbing wall. In addition over 30 activity providers were on hand to chat with young people and give them information about their activities. There was something for everyone among the range of activity providers who were there. Guest speakers Penny Hajek (from Leicester City Council Children and Young People’s Services) and Counsellor Peter Osborne (from Leicestershire County Council) officially launched the website.

The success of the website is entirely owed to a group of young people who have been heavily involved in the development of the website and the publicity campaign. They have chosen the name, the design and produced a commercial advertising the website.

30th March - Laforey Parade
CPO(SCC) K. Marshall-Nichols along with PO(SCC) K. Derbyshire and LC's Fitzpatrick, Rollings and AC Crutchley joined other units in the parade to commemorate the wartime loss of HMS Laforey, Northampton's Affiliated Ship. HMS Laforey was the last ship to be sunk in action in the Mediterranean. The ship was sunk by a German U-Boat with the loss of all but 65 of her 250 crew.

The parade and service included Cadets from Milton Keynes, Northampton, Wellingborough, Stevenage, Dunstable, Loughborough, Leicester, Kettering and Hinckley.

1st - 7th March - A week aboard TS John Jerwood
Cadets from TS Tiger along with PO(SCC) L Stoneman joined cadets from TS Osborne from the Isle of Wight and TS Mohawk, from Blackburn to spend a weeks training aboard the Sea Cadet's Offshore Power Training vessel, TS John Jerwood.

click here for more about the trip.

4th March - Unit Advancements
New Entry Hack.C - Advancement to Cadet
New Entry Hack.J - Advancement to Cadet
Cdt Clayton.S - Advancement to Ordinary Cadet
Cdt Scott.S - Advancement to Ordinary Cadet
Cdt Stoneman.C - Advancement to Ordinary Cadet
***Congratulations & Well Done***

On Friday 29th February, 17 Cadets started their Seamanship and Meteorology training weekend.
They were joined by 2 Instructors and Marine Cadet from Hinckley Unit, the results are listed below:

Seamanship 3rd Class:

All Passed well with the following Cadets recommended to take their 2nd class ASAP due to their high scorings:
Cdt E. Rees, Cdt B.Clayton, Cdt S. Clayton, Cdt H. Rushin, Cdt J. Randall and Cdt L. Hall.

The Cadets were all congratulated on their good behaviour and manners from the visiting Instructors of Hinckley Unit, CPO Hayes and PO T. Robinson.
Many thanks to the Commanding Officer of Hinckley Unit Lt (SCC) N. Hartwell for allowing us to borrow them for the weekend.

The Following Cadets are working towards their Meteorology badge: LC L. Fitzpatrick, AC Rollings, and Cdt C Stoneman.
Good luck to them all!

22nd - 24th February - Area Drill & Piping and National Five a Side Football
AC Liam Scott represented TS Tiger at the Area Drill & Piping competition held at the Newark Showground. He came an impressive 2nd and now goes onto the National comp' in April at HMS Raleigh. Liam said afterwards " It is the scariest thing I've ever had to do" and he added that he would like to thank the Chief from Hinckley unit for providing the transport.
Chris Read, CO of Northampton unit said that "Liam did very well and was a credit to TS Tiger".

Well Done Liam and good luck for the Nationals.

The Senior Girls 5-a-side football team travelled down to HMS Collingwood to take part in the National 5-a-Side Football finals where they came 6th.

The girls pictured left to right are
LC Lindsey Fitzpatrick, Cdt Jazmyn Crewe, LC Ruth Rollings (Team Captain),
Cdt Ferys Warren, Cdt Sam Clayton and Cdt Jodie Randall.

Well done ladies, good look for next year !!

PO (SCC) Allan Stoneman the Team Coach and Chauffeur said,
"As this is their first year playing together, they should be proud of what they have achieved.  I know that I'm proud of them."

LC Linz Fitz gave us a brief comment after the competition.
"All I'd like to say is that it was a fantastic experience, I really enjoyed it and the best bit was meeting people from different parts of the country. And, for those cadets who are thinking about doing it, go for it because it may be hard work and time taking but when you get to nationals the experience it gives you is a reward of job well done and its an amazing place to go! Also thanks to all the staff and parents support without your contributions we would have not made it as far as we did. Finally one big well done to the team and the Captain she did a fab job and I know I am and the team are proud of you for all your hard work and effort so well done and you should be proud of yourself too!"

2nd February - Quiz Night
Many thanks to all who attended our first quiz of 2008. It was great to see both new and familiar faces. The quiz was a look back on 2007 but it appears that it was a forgettable year as the winning team won with a score of 35 out of 80. Congratulations to all winners and those who won our much sort after booby prizes and we hope you will all return for an easier quiz in the Spring.