The Bridgetown High School Emergency Services Cadets have started the year off in extraordinary style, with 44 youth members attending a variety of camps joined by Bridgetown Police officers as part of the Positive Community Policing policy.
The first camp was for Year 8 Cadets, who enjoyed the challenges of a three day bike riding expedition that commenced in Deanmill and ended in Nannup.
Senior Constable Ben Ducker and the cadets enjoyed the challenging course along the Munda Biddi trail before the joys of downhill riding into Nannup on the final day.
The year 9’s and 10’s were the next ones on camp with abseiling and rock climbing activities held at Wellington Dam and camping at Honey Moon Pool near Collie.
All the cadets challenged themselves with the activities and many were very impressed with how far they could push themselves once they decided to give it a go.
Senior Constable Mike Smith attended the camp with the cadets, enjoying the opportunity to interact with local youth members in a different environment.
The final camp for the term was the year 7 training camp in Grimwade where the newest additions to the Cadet Unit were able to utilise all the skills they had learned during Tuesday training sessions.
First Class Constable Laura Nation joined them as they hiked into Grimwade carrying all of their gear for the two day camp.
The Cadets then set up their campsites and cooked their own meals, before heading off for another hike on day two.
Bridgetown Police Sergeant Phil Nation said it was a great opportunity to create and maintain community support and gain a clearer understanding of the local youth.
“Policing is not defined by law enforcement alone, it is equally important to create and maintain community support,” he said.
“The police involvement in the Cadet program has been beneficial by not only generating positive contact with our youth, but hopefully helping to find future leaders in our community.
“At the end of the day the time and effort we place with our youth in any field, will pay dividends down the track with not only possible future Police officers, but all aspects of employment in our communities.”
Sergeant Nation thanked his staff for volunteering their time to attend the camps, which also helped them all gain a fresh perspective and renewed faith for the future.
The Bridgetown cadets fall under the umbrella of Cadets WA, a government initiative aimed at developing leadership and life skills in youth members.
BHS ESC unit leader John Tonai-Moore said that said that the cadet program was a great way to help build resilience in young people.
“The program gives the youth members the skills to deal with a large range of challenges and hopefully instils in them a sense that if they persevere with something they can achieve great outcomes,” he said.
“It is also a great training ground for the future volunteers for our community with many of our cadets going on to volunteer in other organisations when they leave school.”
For more information about the Cadet program, contact the Bridgetown High School on 97610100.
