Bowes House helps Hailsham air cadets’ dreams come true

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Sep 16, 2013

When our customer relations manager Anne Morris saw members of a newly formed Hailsham drum corps demonstrating their skills on practise pads on a table she set her heart on helping them to play the real thing.

She approached Care UK and requested funding to buy at least one drum. She was thrilled when offered the money to buy five - her story about the enthusiasm of youngsters beating their rhythms on pads had impressed company management.

The best day of all came when she saw the faces of the Hailsham Air Cadets, as the drums were presented to them out of the blue at an event at the Care UK home, Bowes House, in Battle Road, on Wednesday, September 11.

The cadets had no idea of the surprise in store for them at the end of a Battle of Britain celebration where they helped serve refreshments for residents and visitors who gathered for entertainment from the 1940s war-time era.

Their commanding officer, Flt Lt Craig Thomson, had kept the presentation a secret but said he was very grateful to Anne and Bowes House, Care UK, for their support.

He added: “We couldn’t afford the drums ourselves and when Anne said she would like to support the cadets I didn’t think it would happen because the drums are very expensive. Now a lot of opportunities will open up including the possibility of the corps being able to lead Remembrance Day parades.”

The drums were presented on behalf of Care UK by the Mayor of Hailsham Cllr Jo Bentley who added to the excitement when announcing that she planned to buy the cadets a bass drum. Cllr Bentley was recently appointed vice-president of the squadron.

Anne said: “Now they just need five more drums to make them a force to be reckoned with and I really hope that other businesses will step in to complete the set. These youngsters should be encouraged.”

The presentation followed a happy afternoon when entertainment was provided by the Swing Time Sweethearts who prompted reminiscences by singing songs of the Andrews Sisters, Gracie Fields, Anne Shelton and of course Vera Lynn. Vera’s We’ll Meet Again rounded off the sing-song.