Steve Taylor 0:04

The sun was shining as the CV College Westminster Award hopefulls made their way to Leafy Bruton, nettled deep in the heart of the Somerset countryside just before Easter. 44 candidates prepared for five days of challenges and fun as part of the traditional selection process. This bonus podcast will let you eavesdrop on what went on to hear from the cadets, the TV college staff, and the ambassadors who made it all possible. 10, maybe 12, will make it through to the final stage exped in Hampshire and Wales, and then be able to look forward to that exclusive awards lunch at the House of Lords. But that is not until September. For now, sit back and have a listen to the Westminster Awards selection 2025.

Colonia Benny 1:01

Hello, my name is Colonia Benny and I'm from St. John Ambulance. I like to help out in my community a lot. I do cathode young leaders, which kind of gets me in base with my religion. Also, I like to have big opportunities in my school. I am head girl in my school, so I like to take on leadership roles. If I asked people one word about me, they would say that I'm quite resilient as well. I'm quite outgoing, extroverted, so I love to make friends with people. I can talk a lot, so it's very smooth conversations and I'm just very, you know, encouraging and very motivated, and I love taking leadership roles.

Charlie Palmer 1:34

Hello, I'm Charlie Palmer Lee from East Norfolk Sixth Form College combined Cadet Force Army section. I like to go outdoors in my free time. I also like to play Warhammer and Dungeons and Dragons outside of Cadets. I'm really excited to be part of the Cadet Vocational College Westminster Award because I get to meet new people and have a good old time outside.

Millie Hawling 1:53

Hello, I'm Millie Hawling from Godolf and TCF. I've been looking at a few things, so I'm thinking about joining the army because I really enjoy cadets. I've had amazing opportunities through them. And but I'm also quite different. I'm looking at drama and technical theatre and like kind of events production, so I'm still doing lots of research.

Oliver Lundy 2:14

Hello, I'm Oliver Lundy and I'm from Oxfordshire ATM. I think they might say I'm out there quite a bit. I like to get out and do stuff. I'm more of a physical person and I'd rather be outside than in an office.

Evie Walker 2:28

Hello, my name is Evie Walker, and I'm from the 504 West Oxygen Squadron with the Air Cadets. What people would say about me, I'd like to think that they think I'm highly motivated and a kind individual, easy to get along with, fairly chatty when you get to know me, but um yeah, just mainly approachable, very energetic. I like to hiking, I like to do a lot of walking and stuff like that too.

Guy Horidge 2:51

My name's Colonel Horid, I'm the principal co-founder of CV College. Huge welcome to you all. You come from a good variety from the Army Cadets, the Air Cadets, Sea Cadets, St. John, and we have one scout with us too, so uh very welcome to you. Um please make sure that you look after everybody because I think it must be quite daunting for you to be here. Some of you would be very apprehensive, some of you would be very nervous. Do you know? You're here because you're brilliant people. Cadets are brilliant people, scouts are brilliant people, but you are the cream of brilliance. One of my favourite films. I don't know if you like, are you is it a bit passe to like Top Gun? Is that alright to like that? Is that okay? Good film still? Yeah, Maverick. You know, you're the cream of the cream, you're the top guns. That's why you're here, because you've beaten competition from all the other cadet forces everywhere else to narrow it down. And I hope you'll have a great week. I've yet to meet somebody in the 20 years we'll be doing this award who's not come away from this week saying it's one of the best times ever I've had in cadets. And they mean it, they don't say that to keep me happy, they enjoy it because you're meeting new people, new experience. For some of you, you could be away from home for longer than you've ever been before. Some of you may be your first time away from home. And these are new skills that you have to learn. What are we looking for here? Well, I could actually tell you I don't know because it's just a feel, but I'm looking, and this is a bit cheesy, but I'm looking for the authentic you. And over four days, we'll see that because most people can't keep up a pretense every second of every hour for four days. So we're looking for honesty, we're looking for integrity, we're looking for not just doing well yourself, but supporting other people. Um, but most of all, please make the best of these few days, do your best and really, really enjoy it because I love this week, because it's just great to meet you all. Thank you very much for coming, well done for coming, and I really look forward to getting to know each and every one of you as we uh as we progress through the week.

Steve Taylor 5:07

Michelle, in the background, the cadets are on their first exercise, which is the gun run, which is always uh good fun. But it's great to finally be here in uh Bruton, isn't it?

Michelle Parry 5:15

It is, it's great, and actually this year, at least it's not raining like last year. It was wet, wasn't it? We were yeah, we spent most of the four days paddling through water.

Steve Taylor 5:24

We've got the decent forecast for weather for this year, which is uh really good. So the cadets have all arrived now, they're all getting to know each other. It's always a good part of the week, isn't it, to see?

Michelle Parry 5:33

It is, it's it it's it's a it's good to watch them at the beginning because they're all quite excited, but they're all slightly dawned, it's slightly daunting for them because they don't really know what to expect. Um, and it'll be a very different um 44 people that we see at the end at the end of the four or five days.

Anika Patel 5:47

Hi, I'm Anika Patel and I'm from 2132 Sedgley Squadron.

Steve Taylor 5:51

Anika, you're just saying how beautiful it is, the setting here at uh Mill on the Brew uh in Bruton, where you're preparing for uh for selection. You're looking forward to this.

Anika Patel 5:59

Oh, I'm so excited. I am so so excited. I'm a bit nervous, but so excited to just do it.

Steve Taylor 6:04

You want to get stuck into that, don't you? Um, everything and I want to do it. We're looking forward to meeting lots of new people and looking at some of the things you can see from here that to the challenges you're gonna be taking over the next four days. What are you hoping to get out of uh selection?

Anika Patel 6:18

Uh developing my leadership is a main goal. Um but as well as that making friends and good friends. Um I know from cadets I've made lifelong friends that I'll stick by my side forever. And I want to be able to do that from now onwards and be able to take leadership, get friends, that's what I really want out of all of this.

Steve Taylor 6:35

You were telling me before, you're no stranger to the limelight, are you? Because you're a singer and you're an actor. Tell me.

Anika Patel 6:41

Um, well, I noticed that. I mean, I've been singing since God knows when. My mum always used to say I'd be singing when I was a kid. Um I never actually took up singing lessons because I used to live in Dubai, so they were quite pricey then. But once I moved here a couple of years ago, I just started singing and then progressed more into musical theatre is what I do because I love acting, showing facial expressions. Because you don't have to be yourself to be in musical theatre, you have to express somebody else. So it's developing a history and a background of a character that makes acting so interesting to me.

Steve Taylor 7:12

And you're known for your dad jokes, aren't you? Go on, tell us your best.

Anika Patel 7:15

Um let's think of another one. Uh, how do you follow? How can you find Will Smith in the snow?

Steve Taylor 7:21

I don't know.

Anika Patel 7:22

You follow the fresh prince. But and ding!

Steve Taylor 7:27

So, guy, you can hear in the background the gun run is underway. We're finally here in uh Bruton for the Westminster Award 2025. Good to get going, isn't it? Oh, it's brilliant.

Guy Horidge 7:36

I have to say, I really look forward to this day. This soon as Bruton finishes, I can't wait to come back. And this today, when I see the young people charging around, you can hear the excited voices. They don't know each other, but you can hear the they're screaming because they're enjoying it. And yes, it it gets me going, gives me that rush for the year because it makes this job worthwhile, and I know what we're doing is so right. What are we watching here? Well, here we're watching a gun run. It's a gun run with a difference, they have a gun, they have to take it through an obstacle course, dismantle it, and then put it together again, climb another obstacle and do the same. But we always like to add that little surprise, and today's little surprise is half the team's got blindfolds on. They weren't expecting that, were they? No, and then just when they weren't expecting it, halfway through, they had to change the blindfolds over. So if somebody thought they got away with it, haha, you don't get away with it on Westminster.

Steve Taylor 8:30

Decisions aren't made on day one, guy, are they? But it's human nature when you see a group of people and you begin to make some assumptions. Did your mind change during the week? Very much so.

Guy Horidge 8:40

Um what I find is that you get some people who start with bags of energy and then as the week goes on they run out. For others, they're quite quiet. They may have they may come from very they may be very shy, they may come from a very small unit, and they're not used to being with 45 people. Suddenly they find their feet, and wow, we just see a really new person. So I have learnt that actually, until the final day, so the last activities open, I really do not know who's going to be going through.

Steve Taylor 9:10

It's gonna be an interesting week, isn't it?

Guy Horidge 9:12

Oh, I think so. I I've never yet been disappointed, and I can already tell I won't be disappointed this time.

Steve Taylor 9:19

So, Rishi Chorla, good to see you here at uh Selection for the Westminster Award 2025. Are you looking forward to this event?

Speaker 12 9:27

Uh definitely. I'm really honoured to be here, and I think it's gonna be an amazing, exciting event, and I'm really hoping to do well.

Steve Taylor 9:34

What are you looking to get most of uh out of the next few days?

Speaker 12 9:38

Out of the next few days, I'm looking forward to helping develop my team building skills, interpersonal relationships, and self-confidence, um, and as well as being able to have an opportunity to help out others.

Steve Taylor 9:49

Now you're from YARM CCF, you're a committed cadet as well, but what do you get up to outside of cadetting?

Speaker 12 9:55

Outside of cadetting, I get up to like rowing, debate, um, other extracurriculars. I do a fair bit of volunteering um at a few um care homes, which is quite rewarding.

Steve Taylor 10:05

If we were to ask your friends, what would they say about you? What sort of a person are you, Rishi?

Speaker 12 10:11

Um, my friends would say that I've got a pretty good sense of humour, I'm quite reliable, and um all in all that I'm like pretty easy to talk to.

Steve Taylor 10:18

Enjoy selection.

Speaker 12 10:20

Thank you. Uh where's the thing about?

Steve Taylor 10:23

Well, Millie, you've also uh been lucky enough to stay in the dry this morning, haven't you? You've been on uh on tell me the exercise you've done this morning.

Millie Hawling 10:30

So we done the top uh tabletop exercise, which is uh quite similar to a Plan X in that you're given like a situation that you had to solve. Um it involved we had to build a tower of can of materials we were given, but with little instruction, just like uh we were told like aims we had to meet, like it had to be a certain height, and the wheels had to be like a certain angle or whatever. But uh that was quite interesting, and I think we actually we built the tower pretty well because it was simple enough, we just had to make it stable, like everyone had ideas, we managed to sort through ones that worked or what didn't. And then the main problem challenge was this uh not yeah, sort of written problem uh that was like so there's this imaginary fire, and there's this town, and you have to get certain people certain places, and uh you have to get your sheep to a certain place. So I think as a team, overall, I think we worked really well. We had quite a lot of challenges of like contrasting opinions, and when some people had uh certain ideas, maybe they felt their voice didn't get heard, so we've been talking about how we'd improve that in the future. But uh overall, like I think it was very challenging, it was very hard, lots of maths going on, so it we had to make sure that everyone knew what the was going on, what the plan was, lots of rewriting and making things make sense and changing the plan. It was just all about communication.

Steve Taylor 11:54

I mean you've you've only just uh met the people that you've been working with, and and the uh teams often go through a sort of a forming stage, don't they? You seem to have have gelled quite well together already.

Millie Hawling 12:05

I think overall we've uh really solid team, we had an amazing day yesterday with the gun run, smashed it, and so I think we all had high hopes going today. I think some people would have been a bit like knocked back by this challenge because some people definitely found it harder than others, but I think you're right, overall our team is really quite good together. That you just get the odd person who um maybe struggles a bit more. So it's all about helping them.

Steve Taylor 12:27

And the good news is it's lunchtime now.

Millie Hawling 12:29

Exactly, it is very, very simple.

Instructor 12:31

Your task is to create the tallest two towers you can. You're gonna create two towers of crates like so, and go up as high as you can. It's as simple as that. These crates lock together like Lego, so if you see they just lock together like that. If they're not locked together, they won't be stable. If I try and climb, it's just gonna slide right off. But if you lock them together properly, they're literally like Lego bricks, they've got studs on top. Then nice and stable. You'll have two people going up at once on both towers, you'll have to get as high as you can, you'll have two people helping, passing in the crate, and four people on Blay. I will show you how to do any high.

Steve Taylor 13:07

Well then, you've finished the ILM session, uh, which I know you enjoyed, and you you've already been thinking about how you're going to use that in your day job, aren't you?

Speaker 30 13:15

Yes, I am. So I've got a problem at my work, which is about kids that have SEN that may not be diagnosed on their profile. So they may have it, we're just not made aware of it, or they may not even have it at all, and they're just not diagnosed with it. And one of the issues is us hav being able to teach them and then going to parents, but if we've not got that training, it's hard to make that judgment. So using the ILM, I've used my problem solving skills to come up with ways that I thought we can find a solution to this. And looking on doing some research, I found that Swim England, which is our qualification group, run a course uh teaching swimmers with learning disabilities, and I thought I'll try and talk to my swim manager about trying to get all of our swim teachers on it, so that way we can then get that training that will help us aid the swimmers in the best way possible.

Steve Taylor 14:06

So, what have you taken away from this morning's session that you may be able to put into practice straight away?

Speaker 30 14:11

I think looking at the problems that we have and adapting to the to the way that our problems are to find the best possible solution. Whether that means we take one solution and run with that, or whether we take multiple solutions and then as a team that we work together to then find tune a major solution that we can then put in practice over months or days to come.

Steve Taylor 14:36

That's a cracking example of how something you've learned here on the Westminster Awards party for involvement gets put into practice in what we might best call real life.

Speaker 30 14:45

Yeah, exactly. Like it's a good opportunity to learn the new skills, especially problem solving, which is something that I very much enjoy anyway. But to put it in real life makes it mean much more as well, rather than just writing it down. So it definitely has helped to learn and adapt and evolve my problem solving skills. How long have you been a swimming instructor? Um, just over a year. It's something I really enjoy. I've got into it more and more, so I was a coach originally. I I was a swim coach for three years, and then done my swim teaching on top of it once I got to the right age. But it's great teaching kids, and I enjoy it at my cadets as well. It's a brilliant opportunity, and I think that kids and cadets should have the right opportunity to learn sailing, swimming, all the life skills that they'll need.

Steve Taylor 15:34

Well Joe, um we're on the m the it's middle on the brew, isn't it? And we're on the brew here, on the river, which is really nice. It's the bridge building exercise. You briefed this in. Just uh tell me what they're expected to do.

Instructor 15:46

They're expected to they've got six barrels, four log uh four planks, and they need to craft a stable enough bridge to send every member of their team across and then subsequently pull it out the other side. Um they're only allowed to send one person on across at a time. They've had 30 minutes to prepare their bridge and talk amongst themselves. Um it's just to see how well they can uh coordinate an actual cra like a craft.

Steve Taylor 16:09

There was a big discussion about whether they're going to do side by side or or six battles in a row. Is there a d is there a DS solution?

Instructor 16:16

Is there an ideal solution to that? There there's a usual one. There's a you there's a there's a solution that a lot of groups come to, but this is completely free form. It's entirely up to them how they want to make it. Um they've landed on this um solution, which is perfectly acceptable. Um it's just this this decision that the solution that they banked on requires a lot on their knots. If one knot falls, that's gonna all fall apart.

Steve Taylor 16:35

I I saw you looking quite closely at some of the knots before, you're laughing now, so I guess I guess they could be improved.

Instructor 16:41

I think some of them aren't. Some of them have just been they've just holding it. It's not an actual knot, they've just started they've just started threading knots through each other things. Um some of them are actual knots though, so they're it could stay it could be stay stable, but one or two will fall apart, I think.

Steve Taylor 16:55

Yeah, absolutely. I mean it wouldn't be the first time that anybody's fallen in, would it?

Instructor 17:00

No, this the brew is very shallow, but it's seen a lot of fallen people, uh a lot of fallen children. It's it's very actively used. We've had so many people fall in. We've had a little bit of a shower, but not too much uh rain, and the sun looks like it's coming out now, which is great news, isn't it? It's gonna be beautiful, especially if we get if if if if we all get soaking wet, then at least we can drive for the sun. I love your optimism.

Steve Taylor 17:20

Well, Chelsea, everybody else is out in the rain at the moment, aren't they? You've been indoors doing your ILM level three. How was that this morning?

Speaker 15 17:27

It's been really productive, yeah. We've got a lot of work done, and most of us managed to finish. It was great helping each other because some of us were stuck on certain parts. Yeah.

Steve Taylor 17:36

How important to you is it to have the ILM level three qualification?

Speaker 15 17:40

I think it's gonna be a great addition to my CV. I think it's gonna really add a lot and help me with my employability in the future after university.

Steve Taylor 17:47

Yeah, there was lots of chat going on while you were doing it. It's very quiet when I came in, you were all heads down typing, weren't you?

Speaker 15 17:51

Yeah, we were all very focused. Yeah, but there were also moments where we were all discussing and helping each other. It's very productive.

Steve Taylor 17:58

What are the key things that you've taken away from that session this morning?

Speaker 15 18:02

Key things I would probably say are evaluation methods, highlights and new things, um, yeah, a lot of leadership aspects and different models also. It was very interesting.

Steve Taylor 18:15

You've got the tabletop exercise this afternoon. I don't think you get to go out in the rain until tomorrow, do you?

Speaker 15 18:19

Yeah, luckily not.

Steve Taylor 18:21

How's it been settling in with all the new people you've met? I think you're around the campfire and there was singing and dancing last night, wasn't there?

Speaker 15 18:26

Yeah, it's been really great. It's been really great meeting everyone. Everyone's really nice, and I really love it here. I'm really excited to see what else there is.

Speaker 4 18:36

So unstable, we're gonna get it. Oh no! No! Just trying, don't lie.

Instructor 18:42

Oh my god, save the barrel! Just put it. Look, it's gonna come out of the rope.

Speaker 17 18:53

Yep.

Instructor 18:56

Barrel saying.

Steve Taylor 19:00

Harry, good to uh see you. The last time I saw you, you had that same big smile on your face because you'd picked up the top award, the Westminster Award, from Lord Lingfield at that the House of Lords.

Speaker 7 19:09

Um what's been happening with you since then? Yeah, so uh quite a few things have happened with me recently. So um I've been going to the University of Warwick and I've started my first year in my Masters of Maths and Physics course. Um I've also just picked up driving again, so I hadn't been driving for about 18 months because of the cost and other sort of factors. But uh I got a car last week and I'm really happy to start taking that out in the local area and sort of get back to grips with how that all works. Uh I've completed my level three in education and training with yourselves, Cadet Vocational, uh, and I'm really excited to hopefully pass that and then go to Sandhurst this year as well as a graduate.

Steve Taylor 19:46

Be graduating at the so I can confirm you will be at Sandhurst, we are back at Sandhurst this year, which is uh which is really good. Uh any other impacts on your life from uh from last year's competition, Harry, that spring to mind?

Speaker 7 19:58

Definitely. Um so the main thing that's sort of come back to me is I've sort of gained more of this mental role. I've had quite a few people from my local area and from my old cadets come up to me and ask me what was this whole thing about, what are the things you've gained, and other sorts of questions like that. And it's been really nice to sort of go back and tell them about my experience and help guide them as I was guided when I was younger. You're joining us again this year now as an ambassador, which you seem delighted about. Definitely. I'd I'd lovely to have me back. Honestly, can't wait to get stuck into it. You see things from the other side of the fence this year, don't you? Definitely, definitely.

Steve Taylor 20:33

Just uh finally, Harry, um, everybody will remember your story about cycling. Um how's that going? Just to remind anybody who doesn't mean it, you hadn't ridden the bike, had you, until you did it in the in the velodrome and on last year's uh competition. How's that going?

Speaker 7 20:47

You know what, that that's right. Um and my biking's going a lot better, so I keep borrowing my brother's bike as much as she doesn't want me to. Um I borrow that and I've actually started to get quite a bit of distance going on it, and I'm actually quite confident on it now, so a lot of progress has happened since then. And I'm looking forward to going back on it, hopefully, this summer.

Steve Taylor 21:04

Right, Colonia, come on, you've just got wet feet going over the jumps, but you're doing the wobbly bridge. How is it?

Colonia Benny 21:10

Beautiful. What does it mean, Mr. Spirit? Then you've done it.

Steve Taylor 21:15

Well done. Come on, see that then you can do it. Well since I'm a table. Come on, describe the wobbly bridge to me. Excellent, mummy. Come on, let me wobble the wobbly bridge. How difficult is it, actually? Exhausted looking condensing. You remember this? My two and teachers is an amazing experience. Um seeing it back now, I think you think seven years later for me now, being able to come back and see all these amazing young people having that same experience is amazing. I think for me the biggest thing is you're almost stepping back as much as you can now because this you you've had your amazing experience of this, and then you've got to make that same experience for the next generation, so it's down to them. You know, the power's in their hands. They're gonna be briefed on the next exercise now. But is it is it good coming back? Is it nice to see the young people who are trying to aspire to do what you did? Absolutely, I think it's amazing. There's so many amazing inspirational young people out there, and to see them getting recognised and to have this opportunity, there's nothing better. Absolutely.

Oliver Lundy 22:39

Let's put one foot on through the foot on there, they'll grab onto them.

Steve Taylor 22:42

Well, Andy, the uh the week's well underway. I'm slightly out of breath now because I've climbed up to the top of the hill to uh to watch the crate stacking where they have to put crate upon crate upon crate and get as high as they can. Next door to them, there's an indoor exercise, the the sinking ship, uh I think it's effectively known as. Two very different types of assessment going on. One's very physical, one completely different. What are you looking for in each of those? In the um the physical, in the crate the crate stack, we're looking for this physical exercise, we're looking for this team um bonding, we're looking for leadership. Um when we get to the sinking ship, the moral dilemma, we're looking at uh a little bit deeper into the thought process, whether they can debate as a group and um how they see that exercise um unfolding. Yeah, so basically we're looking for the sort of the not everybody's suited to do a physical exercise, but more some people are suited to do a more mental exercise, and and hopefully we'll draw that out in this uh thinking shift moral dilemma. That's an interesting and important point, isn't it? Because there are people who will excel at the physical uh side of it, and other people who are much more cerebral, aren't they? The ones that over the fingers are not even itself out over the week in terms of when you're you're sat down, you're debriefing, and you're looking to do the assessment as to who might make it through to the next stage. Yeah, absolutely. We're not looking for uh somebody who's totally physical, we're not looking for somebody who's totally um as a sort of a like I say, a cerebral kind of approach. We're looking for a rounded individual, somebody that'll fit in really well when we go off on the summer expedition. Um as the exercises there, they're all very different again. Um so we're looking for this sort of team, sort of um somebody who'll bond nicely with the group. They've only been here for uh sort of less than 24 hours or so, haven't they? But you can tell already there are friendships being formed. Yeah, interestingly, somebody said that um uh I could just see the the Rapha cadets are chatting, but actually when you look deeper, they're not just chatting to their own organisations, they are actually just bonding as a group and all of the sort of cadet organizations, scout organizations starting to drift away and they're just becoming.

Speaker 30 24:57

There you go, there you go, there goes.

Instructor 25:01

It's not playground equipment, anyway. Just go. Can someone grab my waist?

Speaker 31 25:07

Yeah, wait, wait.

Speaker 17 25:10

It's okay, it's okay, we're doing it again, we're doing it again. Jump! Yeah, climb, climb, climb, yes, honey! There you go, yes, honey!

Tom Gray 25:21

Hello, I'm Tom Gray from 2nd and I'm Italian, Northern Ireland. I'd say cadets, like to a fareman, I'm a plumber, so work away. I'm shooting sometimes. Uh like rugby and sports.

Abisha Jayan 25:35

Hello, my name is Abisha Jayan and I'm from Gwenton Powers ACF. So I am a fencer, so I do like fencing, I'm a violinist and I also enjoy shooting. I joined the cadets because my older sister did it and um I really, really like my older sister and I wanted to follow in her footsteps.

Abigail Houston 25:53

Hello, I'm Abigail Houston from Yorkshire North and West ACF. Outside of cadets, I like to go for walks, runs and just general adventures. I joined the cadets because I just was really interested in doing something outside of school and making new friends.

Elliot Seckord 26:09

Hello, I'm Elliot Seckord from Trinity Cadet Corps. Um I'm really excited about the whole award, not necessarily just for the award, just because it'd be a really fun camp to go on, meet new people, just have a great time while I'm here. And um I think people would say that I'm a very friendly, cheerful and enthusiastic person.

Camilla Lang 26:24

Hello, I'm Camilla Lang and I'm from uh Royal Marine Cadets, part of SCC in Leicester. Outside cadets, I actually study um adult nursing, so I quite enjoy going, so I do placement at a hospital where I'm acting as a healthcare associate, carrying for patients award, so I'm curling I'm stationed at a cardiology ward. So I like chatting. I like a lot of chatting. Um I also like going skating with my friends.

Isabel Jennings 26:53

Hello, I'm Isabel Jennings from Rakmans Firth and Watford Sea Cadet Unit. I feel quite excited about being part of the Westminster Award this year as it allows me to develop my skills in leadership and team management, as well as other people seeing that I am worthy of being part of this award and seeing my skills as well.

Ezie Dixon 27:14

Hello, I'm Ezie Dixon and I'm from St Albans and that's the St John's unit as well. I joined cadets because I was interested in first aid. I thought everyone should know first aid and I found it really helpful, especially when like I've had incidents which aren't major but like I've known what to do with my friends, so I've been able to help. Um, my career that I'm considering is like media, and I'm really interested in sport. So like interviewing football players or doing the social media part of that is what I'm into.

Amy Cowley 27:41

Hello, I'm Amy Cowley from Staffordshire and West Midlands Army Collect Force. But I'm really proud to have proud of myself to have been nominated for it and I'm really excited to see what's to come. If you were to ask people about me, they'd probably say I'm quite a bubbly person when I get to when they get when you get to know me, and I'm like quite determined to do things and I'm quite an easy person to talk to when people get to know me.

Samuel Ahmed 28:05

Hello, I'm Samuel Ahmed. I'm from Hampshire Scouts. So I do quite a lot outside of Scouts. So for example, so one, I'm I enjoy photography, two, I enjoy stand-up paddle boarding, and three, I'm very into my technology. I'd say I'm a tech guru. So I'm really happy here that I'm at a Westminster Award. I didn't think I'd get up to this stage. I honestly thought I'd probably be knocked out at stage two, but you know, I've travelled all the way, um I've travelled all the way here from Manchester and you know it still feels a bit surreal, to say the least.

John Starkey 28:36

Hello, I'm John Starkey from Beagleswick Combined Cadet Force. So, outside of cadets, I quite like Lego building. I'm a big fan of doing Lego building. I'm a bit of a gamer, I like games. I also quite like just general building stuff, I like models. It's kind of just me really. I kind of think considering something in film, going into the film industry maybe. I'm not sure what in the film industry, but I think probably the film industry.

Speaker 4 29:01

Hello, I'm Richard Chadchi from Voice 7F Brandom Squadron. So the reason why I joined Cadets was because I was ever since I was quite young, I'd quite literally pretend to fly the plane with a little cup holder. How well that went, I don't know. And what crew I'm considering, I'm hoping to become a pilot either with the military or go commercial.

Speaker 31 29:21

Hello, my name is Dwayne George, and I am from the Army Cadet Force in Hampshire and Isle of Wight. Currently, I feel very honoured to be part of the Westminster Award. I know it's a big deal, and I know loads of people have put themselves forward to be here. So I also feel the pressure of performing, but I also feel like it's somerset and I love the surrounding area, so I'm just gonna try and have as much fun as I can by performing my best as well.

Charlotte Weeks 29:49

Hello, I'm Charlotte Weeks from 1032 Yeobel Squadron ATC. I like playing hockey outside of cadets. I play for Yeobel and Share one team. I joined Cadets originally because I want to join the Air Force and I've just been up to the Crammar to do my CBAT.

Scarlett Dell 30:04

I'm hoping to join the Air Force as a Logemaster. Hello, I'm Scarlett Dell from 129 Tom Ridgewell Squadron. I'm very happy to have gotten this far and I'm very happy to be doing the BTEC because that was the sort of the main reason that I originally showed interest in it. Quite outgoing and uh somewhat unique. I've got quite a few interests like sort of camping and normal stuff that um cadets emphasise and not many girls my age might enjoy doing.

Bianca George 30:37

Hello, I'm Bianca George and I'm from Hampshire and Isle of Army Cadet Force and I represent the Army Cadet Force band, but I'm also a part of a Camboy company and I prayed at Temperatoon in Lomsey. Um so one thing a lot of people would say about me is that I'm very bubbly, so that's one thing I like. I love talking to people, I love mixing around. I feel like everyone needs a bit of positive energy and it's always good to look at the positive side of things.

Louisa Bingham 31:03

Hello, I'm Louisa Bingham from Gaston Brian Street Secret. Um I think if uh you were to ask people about me, they would say um I'm somebody who's up for anything. I just uh I try and do as much as possible, um learn as many new skills as possible and try and smile while doing it.

Demiw Burden 31:19

Hello, my name's Demi Burden from Phoenix Collegiate CCF in West Bromwich and the career I'm considering is joining the RAF when I leave six four. So at the moment I've started my application as a weapons system officer. So I'm just waiting for my air level results on that. I'd say it's honoured to get this far, so far, maybe I'll get to the final, who knows.

Ewan Bremda 31:43

Hi, I'm Ewan Bremda Harrison and I'm from King School Grantham, CTF. Quite daunting being a part of the Westminster Awards builds. It's a it's a big programme, it's a big qualification, but I'm I'm excited. It's um probably one of the biggest things I've done with the cadet, so it'll be good to do it.

Anika Patel 32:13

What do you call a fish in a bow tie? It's a fish decated.