An 18-year-old from Barnsley has risen to become one of the highest ranking Sea Cadets, an honour only awarded to less than 1% of trainees in the country.
James Sandham-Mulholland started at the Sea Cadets on his 13th birthday, and within five years became one of only 10 out of 1335 registered cadets in the country to be awarded the Cadet Sergeant rank.
Maddison Brown, 27, chair of the Sea Cadets in Barnsley, said: “It’s so rare to become that rank, to the point that in about 10 years, we’ve only had one, so for him to get to that level is a fantastic achievement for him and for us as a group.”
James had to go through challenges that demonstrated leadership, dedication and a certain level of proficiency in various skills to achieve the rank, including numerous challenges in all weather conditions and one during a winter storm.
Maddison, a volunteer herself, took over as chair five years ago, when the group struggled with funding, she said: “We had ivy trees growing through the building so we had to get all that removed and now we have brand new kitchens, bathrooms and classrooms.
“I put in quite a lot of hours alongside my day job to get it sorted, this included a fundraiser which raised a quarter of a million pounds for us to fund it.”
The group helps teenagers from all walks of life, including people with confidence issues, poor English and those from deprived backgrounds and gives them opportunities.
They are looking for more volunteers to help run its services, with more information available at the Barnsley Sea Cadets website or by messaging them directly on the their Facebook page.