New £600,000 cadet centre to open in Warwick

The new purpose built centre will be the new home for army and air training cadets .

The West Midland Reserve Forces and Cadets Association (West Midland RFCA) had been working to secure the new centre and with the support of Aylesford school and sixth form college and Warwick County Council.

Together they secured a 20-year lease for the land at the edge of Aylesford school’s playing fields for the centre.

Kevin Andrews, head of estates for West Midlands RFCA, coordinated the project and employed the Three Pines Building Company, as the contractor and David Wilson Partnership as the architects for the new cadet centre.

Building work on the 250m² centre started in late February.

After eight months, the keys to the new building were handed over in November to the Warwick Detachment Army Cadet Force and 1368 (Warwick and Royal Leamington Spa) Squadron of the Air Training Corps, who will share the centre.

Colonel Nigel Sarling, Commandant of Warwickshire Army Cadet Force said: “We are delighted that we now have a detachment back in Warwick, especially as the town have always shown a lot of support to the Cadets.

“However, the biggest struggle starts now with the need to recruit. As we were homeless for so long we are having to start the detachment from scratch and so are looking for both cadet and adult volunteers to join us.”

The project has cost around £600,000 to complete and the building contains instructional facilities such as classrooms for training. The building also has solar panels.

Warwickshire’s Lord Lieutenant Timothy Cox will be opening the new cadet centre on Saturday November 26.

To join the cadets or volunteer go to www.wmrfca.org.