The cadets and staff of 966 (Wallingford) would like to thank the shoppers and staff of the Wallingford Waitrose branch for their support and donations on Wednesday 23rd of December.

Over a number of hours the cadets raised a total sum of £1918.84 which will be used over the coming year to fund new equipment and squadron activities.

Flight Lieutenant Chris Tocher (Officer Commanding) said-

“Once again I was amazed by the people of Wallingford as they gave generously at our annual fund raising event. 2009 was such a difficult year for so many people, and it shows the unwavering commitment that the people of Wallingford has to voluntary organisations to of dug deep and supported us this year. This years donations are primarily being used to provide further computer equipment and training aids for teaching the young cadets about aviation, map reading, first aid and many other subjects which we deliver training on right here in Wallingford. We will also be building our own air rifle range with the funds which will allow us to teach the young cadets the exciting skill of target shooting without having to travel too far to do it. The best bit of the fund raiser was the countless comments I received from shoppers regarding how smart and polite our cadets were, a sentiment with which I couldn’t agree more.

I must also thank Waitrose of Wallingford for their continued support in allowing our unit to conduct this annual fund raiser. For several years now the Waitrose bag pack has been our sole fund raising activity each year and that allows the voluntary staff and the enthusiastic cadets to focus for the remainder of the year on obtaining the cadets qualifications, exposing them to life changing experiences and supporting other community events.”