ST BRIGID'S CCF
Our CCF community is very proud to announce two awards. Captain Bunn (also known as Mrs Bunn, geography teacher) is awarded the Lord Lieutenant of Gwynedd’s Certificate of Merit for her service to the CCF, and Cadet Flight Sergeant Harriet Gaskin of Year 12 has been chosen as one of the Lord Lieutenant of Clwyd’s Cadets for 2021. To top it all of, last year’s Lord Lieutenant of Clwyd’s Cadet for 2020, our Head Boy, Cadet Warrant Officer Llyon Morgan-Read was confirmed as completing his year of service.
Captain Bunn started her CCF career in SW England in 2002, joining St Brigid’s School in 2009 and has been a central figure in everything since then. She is the Denbighshire County Council planning lead, ensuring compliance with the adventurous activity legal framework. She is the Duke of Edinburgh programme manager, having supported over 350 participants to achieve over 450 awards, including 35 at the highest gold level. After the local education authority withdrew all support, she was instrumental in obtaining an Operating Authority licence, which allows us to continue delivering the Duke of Edinburgh Award. For a short period as stand-in School Staff Instructor, she was also the main planning officer for all Contingent activities.
It is outside the office, however, that Captain Bunn is best. Active on nearly every one of our events, she has attended every Army summer camp since 2009, every Brigade climbing competition since 2010 and many skill-at-arms meetings, Cambrian Patrols and other field days. She has supervised on over twenty full-day climbing sessions and has taken many groups up Snowdon. She has been on over 50 UK-based expeditions (on Anglesey, the Clwydians, Snowdonia and the English Lake District), and on two overseas expeditions, to Kenya in 2014 and South Africa in 2016. She has training qualifications in mountain trekking and indoor climbing, and is a Duke of Edinburgh Gold-level Expedition Assessor. She has been an obstacle course supervisor and mobile climbing tower supervisor and is an ASA Swimming Teacher.
Cadet Flight Sergeant Harriet Gaskin (Year 12) has been in the RAF Section since September 2017, and takes part in nearly every activity. She has attended camps at RAF Wittering (in south east England) and the Cadet Training Centre at Inskip (near Preston). She has flown four times, completing her flight ground training in 2018 to qualify for her Blue Wings. For three years in a row, she was in the Contingent’s successful squad in the annual air-cadet ground-training competition, the Air Squadron Trophy, representing Wales at the National finals. She was part of the shooting team that won the overall team award, across all RAF Sections of UK, for two years in a row. She passed a Methods of Instruction course in April 2019, becoming an Instructor Cadet, and now teaches all year groups all aspects of the air cadet syllabus. She has completed Duke of Edinburgh Bronze and Silver Awards, with expeditions on Anglesey, the Clwydians and Snowdonia, and is working towards her Gold Award. She has qualifications in first aid and indoor climbing, and has been part of the Contingent climbing team at three all-Wales Cadet Climbing Competitions.
Da iawn i’r ddau
The Lord Lieutenant’s of North Wales are the Queen’s representative, at both civic and Royal occasions. They are an ancient appointment, started first by Henry VIII, to enlist into the local militia in times of emergency. Now an honorary appointment, the Lords Lieutenant of Gwynedd and Clwyd officiate over the areas covered by the ‘old’ retained counties, replaced in 1996.
Every year, each Lord Lieutenant holds an awards ceremony, to recognize those amongst the Reserve Forces and Cadets, who have contributed most to their particular communities. With respect to the Lord Lieutenant’s Cadets, each individual has contributed a lot to their own cadet force and are chosen to help the Lords Lieutenant fulfill their duties throughout the year.