During the Covid-19 pandemic it is unfortunate that the Sea Cadets have been unable to meet. Sea cadets offer young people a unique opportunity to learn through collaborative activities that will set them up for later in life.

Whilst the cadets themselves have not been able to meet face to face, instead replaced by zoom video calls, it does mean that the unit that is normally in use at least twice a week is now unfortunately empty.

Over the November and December 2020 period the unit suffered a number of break ins which caused some significant damage. While members of staff do regularly check the unit there is only so much that can be done.

Bolton District Freemasons were contacted to see if they could help. The result was a security upgrade to the building itself.

The district team, and individual members of Bolton Freemasons offered to purchase security cameras, improve the internal CCTV systems, and contribute towards the installation of LED security lighting. Coupled with increased attendance from staff members this will mean a significant increase in the security of the unit; until such time when the Cadets can hopefully meet again together.

Officer in Charge Megan: “Over the last few months we have been the unfortunate victims of break ins at our unit and as such we were in a position to need to urgently upgrade our security. We are extremely grateful for the donation from Bolton Freemasons, which has allowed us to purchase and install new security cameras and lighting to help prevent further crimes. Being a charity these incidents have significant harm on our ability to provide an excellent experience to our cadets, and being able to safeguard our headquarters helps us continue to help the young people who we work with.”

District Chairman (Bolton District Freemasons) Martin Horan: “There is no doubt that throughout lockdown our young people have suffered horribly. When we were approached by Bolton Sea Cadets alerting us to the problems they had protecting their equipment, Bolton District Freemasons were only too pleased to provide funding to assist making their Training Ship more secure.”