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North Wales Chronicle

Ten new cadet centres announced for Wales

This is part of a national effort to modernise the reserve and cadet estate. The new centres, from Caldicot in the south to Bangor in the north, are the RFCA for Wales' contribution to the government's initiative to improve the cadet and reserve estate across the UK. The Reserve Estates Optimisation Programme (REOP), directed by the Secretary of State, identified several sites across Wales for development as improved, shared joint cadet centres. Army cadets outside the new Caldicot Joint Cadet Centre (Image: Supplied) The programme was initiated following a national review of the reserve and cadet estate in 2020, which assessed the reach, condition, and suitability of every cadet and reserve building in the UK, as well as their value for money. The initiative, although led by the Ministry of Defence, involves the Council of RFCAs, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, and regional RFCAs. A total of just over £5 million is being invested across 10 sites in Wales. These new joint cadet centres are either refurbished sites, such as in Blackwood, or brand new modular builds, such as in Caldicot. RFCA for Wales head of estates, Mr Phil Young, said: "We are adapting and improving our estate to ensure we have the right buildings in the right locations to meet the needs of the cadets in the future." The programme in Wales has resulted in the disposal or planned disposal of 12 cadet and reserve sites, contributing to a more efficient estate in Wales. Five new joint cadet centres have already been created at Blaina, Blackwood, Caldicot, Penarth, and Pengam-Cascade. A further five new joint cadet centres are to be created at Tredegar, Bangor, Bridgend, Ammanford, and Ebbw Vale. Cadets doing first aid training (Image: Supplied) In Caldicot, the old army cadet force building in Mill Lane was demolished to make way for a brand new £1.2 million bespoke building, which opened last summer and is shared by both the army cadets and the air cadets in the town. Staff Sergeant Instructor Kerris Drew of Caldicot ACF said: "This new state-of-art building is great – it's so much bigger than the old one with better facilities. "It has more classrooms which allow us to carry out more efficient and targeted training with the cadets. "It has a spacious stores room, offices and even air conditioning. "Outside there is a parade area for drill practice and also a garden area with wildlife boxes." The building offers scope for collaborative training between the army and air cadets.