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Inspirational summer at Culdrose as airbase helps to fire up future generations
28 August 2024
Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose has helped inspire hundreds of young people this summer to learn about science, engineering and aviation, as well as teamwork and life in the Fleet Air Arm.
The summer began with the return of Greenpower Education Trust in June, for the charity’s electric car racing event which is hosted and supported by the Royal Navy. Teams from more than 30 schools from across the south west now take part in this annual event at Predannack Airfield on the Lizard Peninsula.
This was followed later in June by a new event called Reach For The Sky, organised by the Cornwall-based non-profit organisation TECHgirls. Held in one of the air station’s aircraft hangars, hundreds of schoolgirls were invited to think about careers in aviation, science and engineering. RNAS Culdrose personnel were joined by a wide range of industry partners to host stalls and activities for this family festival of science.
Summer is also the time for work experience and the RNAS Culdrose hosted more than 40 GCSE-aged pupils from across Cornwall over three weeks. They were given a taste of life in the Royal Navy including hands-on experience fixing the navy’s Merlin helicopters, taking the controls in one of the pilot training simulators, and splashing into the air station’s swimming pool to use aircrew survival equipment.
Companies based at RNAS Culdrose also held their own work experience programmes to showcase their own contributions to defence, including Ascent Flight Training at 750 Naval Air Squadron and defence contractor Serco.
The season came to an end with a summer camp in August with young people from various air cadet squadrons organised by Kent Wing Air Cadets, who made the long journey from the south east to learn about life in the navy’s air service.
A spokesperson for RNAS Culdrose said: “We’ve been delighted to host these events over the past three months, as well as events earlier in the year, such as the First Lego Regional Finals. This was jointly organised by Cornwall Council and involved around 600 school children from primary and secondary schools. We also hosted children in a separate event organised by the Jon Egging Trust as well as individual school visits.
“All this activity has taken place alongside our normal defence duties. We could not have achieved all this without the support of the many charities, organisations and our industry partners, as well as the support of parents and the enthusiasm of our own personnel to get involved and help inspire the next generation.
“We hope we’ve been able to give an insight into our world and the role RNAS Culdrose and the Royal Navy plays in the defence of the UK.”