The discipline of the drill quickly builds a sense of belonging and then the young people get enthusiastically stuck into the evening’s activities.
Tonight the cadets take part in team sports and training sessions in which they learn about police work and neighbourhood crime prevention.
The scene embodies everything the VPC stands for. Chief Inspector Ed Sherry,VPC coordinator, says: “The VPC ethos is ‘It’s not where you’re from, but where you want to go.’
MET cadet corps 2010“It is all based around the values of the Met – working together to build stronger, safer communities, being inclusive and standing for justice and fairness.”
Westminster VPC leader PC Simon Cham adds: “The cadets reflect the communities of their particular borough. BecauseWestminster is highly multicultural, so too are our cadets. The VPC provides them with opportunities to have fun, learn and develop. Our young people may be from different backgrounds, but as police cadets they join in together and they support each other.”
There is at least one cadet corps in each of the 32 boroughs of the MPS.
The VPC has been running for more than 21 years and in June 2009, 1,200 cadets celebrated this milestone with a spectacular procession at Horse Guards Parade. The event symbolised the way the VPC is developing the capital’s youth. “It was a great day, a once in a lifetime opportunity.
