Cabin Loan stops the Rot for Cadets

 

Guernsey Sea Cadets have a new office, thanks to Geomarine.

The unit is based at the former Grammar School for Boys and its wardroom and administration office has been in a portable cabin for 12 years.  But a leaking roof caused it to rot and it has been unfit for use for a year.   Last week, Geomarine Limited organised delivery of a replacement and removed the old one.   ‘The new cabin being lowered by the Bob Froome crane was like a gift from heaven’, said unit chaplain Peter Derham.  Mr Derham said they stopped using the cabin as a wardroom a year ago as the water was running over the furniture and books.  ‘In its rotten state, it had pronounced list to port and I was most concerned that the floor would give way,’ he said.  ‘The unit has a very active parents and supporters association and they had made substantial repairs to try to give it a longer lease of life, but even they could only do so much.’  Mr Derham approached his friend, who is the managing director of Geomarine, to ask if he had any spare portable offices they could borrow for a year.  ‘He jumped at the chance to be able to support a charity like the Sea Cadets and he and his staff were helpful beyond my wildest expectations’, he said.  ‘The main advantage of this cabin is that we will now have back in use the original training rooms within the main building, the Charybdis Room and Limbourne Room, named after the two ships sunk by enemy action in the Bay of St Malo.’  Although the new cabin is smaller than the original, Mr Derham said the cadets were excited when he opened it up to them over the weekend.   He hopes it will be in full use after 17th October, since the telephone and computer are fitted and the furniture is in place.  The cabin is on loan, but the Sea Cadets are to be rehoused once the present site is demolished for development.  Replacement furniture has also been donated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, which has moved its offices.  A member of the public provided the carpet.  The management committee, staff and cadets all said they were extremely grateful for the support they had received.

 

 

Back..