Lincoln Army Cadets benefit from housebuilder’s donation

The Lincoln Army Cadets No 1 company have been boosted by a donation from us. We donated £500 to the cadets, which helped to subsidise a trip to the Belgium battlefields last month.

48 cadets aged between 14 and 17 years old spent four days visiting notable points of interest in Belgium including Flanders Field, Ypres, and Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and Memorial.

Mike Lewis, 28, Company Sargent Major for the cadets, said: “We were extremely grateful for Chestnuts Homes’ donation towards our trip. “We have 160 cadets in the No 1 company from a real mixture of backgrounds, so it’s really important to us to be able to give the same experience to all of them. With the help of Chestnut Homes’ donation, funding from the MoD and fundraising we did such as supermarket bag packing, what should have cost each cadet £190 for the trip ended up costing them £50 each – making it much more achievable for everyone. The trip was thought-provoking for all our cadets, who really enjoyed the experience. It gave them a real feel and understanding of the enormity of the war – especially as a lot of the soldiers would have been around their age.”

David Newton, Managing Director of Chestnut Homes, said: “We were very happy to be able to help the cadets with this donation. It’s very important for us to support local groups close to where we are building homes and give back to the communities. This was a particularly unusual request, but we’re thrilled that the cadets got so much out if it.”