5th April 2025 - Youth Day at Broad Plain & Riverside Youth Project, Bristol.
Joint Venture between Royal Society of St. George and the Joint Cadet Services Committee.
As the RSSG Youth Lead I have for some years been looking at ways forward to engage younger people into the Royal Society of St. George (RSSG). Many similar organisations have an elderly membership, without a younger demographic membership to replace them, when they pass on. By holding a Sports Day event, aimed at young people, giving them a day to remember, we hoped will promote our Society. The Charitable Trust of the Royal Society of St. George sponsored the event. Each participant received a black t-shirt, with our armorial badge front and back, a St. George screw lapel badge and our leaflet. The idea of the leaflet was for parents to see who had facilitated the event and hopefully spark an interest into who we are and a possible membership enquiry.
This pilot event has taken almost a year to organise. At last year’s City & County of Bristol Branch of RSSG Annual General Meeting, I discussed this idea with our branch President and RSSG Vice-President, H.M. Lord Lieutenant Peaches Golding OBE. Her response was, as we are both in Bristol, that I have the resources and skill set and she has the contacts, we should make it happen. Peaches organised a planning meeting with interested parties and managed to enthuse and enlist the Army, Navy (Sea) and RAF (Air) cadets, through Lt.Col.(Retired) Peter McCune, Bristol Joint Services Cadet Committee. This would enable us to get 100 young people to attend the event.
On the day, the car park at Broad Plain & Riverside Youth Project was used as the registration point. The young people were split into 5 groups of 20. These groups were given a colour wrist band, to indicate which group they belonged to. Each group was supervised by two Cadet Adult Leaders throughout the day. Each activity area was given a number and a rota of where each group should go after each activity was circulated. This worked well, until one group went to the wrong section. Lunch break had to be reduced to bring everyone back on track. “The best laid plans of mice & men” comes to mind! Each activity lasted 45 minutes, with each group divided into two subgroups of 10 participants, due to the presence of two activities in each area. We allocated a 5-minute transition period between activities and planned a one-hour lunch break during which all participants sat on benches outside, under the sail tent, taking advantage of the sunny weather. The activities were highly successful, maintaining full engagement from the young participants throughout the entire day. Feedback from the attendees was overwhelmingly positive, with many inquiring about future events.
The event served as an excellent publicity opportunity for the Royal Society of St George and the Cadet movement. It allowed young people to engage in skills they had not previously encountered and guided them to local clubs offering similar experiences. Participants had the opportunity to integrate and socialise with cadets from other services, which proved to be a positive experience. Additionally, ITV filmed the event and broadcasted it on their local Area News report following the early evening news, showcasing the impactful collaboration between organisations.
The five workshops were:
- Music, Microphone battles and DJ skills (In the Car park under a Sail)
- Zorbing and Football in the main gym.
- Climbing Wall & Games room, Table Tennis, Pool, Snooker and Table Football.
- First Aid (CPR/Recovery Position) & Police Knife Crime sessions on The Mezz Floor.
- Boxing Skills in the Boxing Gymnasium.
We were visited by Brigadier Karl Harris CBE, the Director of LCSC Land Command and Staff College (Land Warfare Centre). He was very impressed with what we were doing and spoke at great length with Peaches, gaining a full picture of what the Society was about. Other VIPs included Col. Jane Thompson TD DL (Chairman Wessex Reserve Forces) and Col. Rob Guest TD (Colonel Cadets HQ South-West). We took the opportunity to mention how the London area Cadets had affiliated to the RSSG and how it would benefit the southwest if we could do the same.
Ellie Cambell of the Police mentioned that the young people interacted extremely well during the Knife Crime sessions. She was pleased that they managed to convey the serious nature of knife crime to 100 young people, ensuring that they are fully aware of the importance of their personal safety.
Each young person participated in the CPR Revive sessions, learning how to handle an unconscious casualty and place them in the Recovery Position. Additionally, they learned how to perform CPR and give Mouth-to-Mouth Resuscitation. The combined approach with the Knife Crime session proved to be very effective.
The day concluded on a high note with our Vice President and Lord Lieutenant Peaches Golding thanking everyone and celebrating the young people's achievements. She wore her RSSG T-shirt throughout the day and was a tremendous ambassador for us.
I am very pleased with the outcome of the day and believe that this plan could be implemented in other areas around the country, perhaps in Bolton next year, as I am confident that the university facilities there would be able to accommodate such an event.
Dennis Stinchcombe MBE