Greater Manchester Army Cadet Force have been presented with their Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service 2022 during a ceremony held at Gorton Monastery yesterday. This is the highest award a local voluntary group can receive in this country, the equivalent to an individual being given an MBE.
Presentations were made by Mrs Diane Hawkins JP LLB, Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant for Greater Manchester to seven representatives from the Greater Manchester Army Cadet Force.
The youth organisation are among 21 groups in the county to have received this prestigious award and is the only Army Cadet Force (ACF) in the UK to be awarded this year. The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, created in 2002 to celebrate The Queen’s Golden Jubilee, aims to recognise the outstanding work by local volunteer groups which benefits their communities.
Greater Manchester ACF is one of the largest ACF counties with around 1000 cadets training in 38 detachments across Greater Manchester, supported by over 200 adult instructors. The organisation is part of the national framework for Cadets but for some years it has driven forward developing its own identity, shaping its own culture and direction and focusing on what people can do rather than what they cannot do.
Through clarity of vision and clear leadership Greater Manchester ACF are striving to be a ‘Force for Good’ by developing self confidence in both cadets and adult volunteers, providing opportunities for personal growth, developing value based leadership capabilities and embracing the diversity of the communities they serve through a safe, respectful, welcoming and inclusive culture. Greater Manchester ACF have developed a culture that not only has aspirations to deliver opportunities to young people via the ACF syllabus, but to further place the child at the centre of their work so that the activities are a vehicle to engage, not an output to measure value.
Colonel Catherine Harrison; Commandant of Greater Manchester ACF, said: “We are extremely proud to have received such a prestigious award that recognises the hard work put in by every cadet force adult volunteer to provide a positive cadet experience to the young people of Greater Manchester Army Cadets. The selfless dedication and enthusiasm from our remarkable volunteers makes such a significant difference to young lives.”
