May was an extremely busy month for me as the Territory Officer Cadets. I managed to visit and inspect the Tennant Creek and Alice Springs Cadet Divisions, deliver two very successful Child Protection Workshops, one in Palmerston on 14 May and the other in Alice Springs on 23 May and attend the Territory Cadet Camp committee meeting, also in the Alice.

Tennant Creek first. Sam Cameron is doing a great job running the Cadet Division. She, with the assistance of Darren now have Juniors as well as Cadets to inspire. Given the small meeting room and lack of parental assistance Sam and Darren run a split meeting night with Juniors arriving at 5 PM and the Cadets starting when the Juniors finish at 6:30.

The juniors and cadets quickly relaxed after my arrival (Sam told them that a very important person was coming to see them, little did they know it was just me!) and were keen to show off their bandaging talents. Sam provides fruit to the juniors each week to ensure they are not hungry and can concentrate on their St John work, not their tummies.

The Cadets showed off their drill skills and a number of them are looking forward to completing the NCO course when it is next offered ‘down the track’. They were most impressed when Mick McKay bought pizzas for the whole group and they asked us to come back every week.

The Alice Springs inspection had a huge turnout and was a combined cadet/adult inspection with not only myself, but also Steve Peers (Commissioner), Mick McKay (Territory Superintendent), Paul Berry (T.O. IT), Noel Talbot (T.O. Projects), and Bernie Kilgariff (Knight of the Order) in attendance.

After the inspection, the Cadets were awarded a number of badges including Preliminary First Aid and Knowledge of the Order before having a lovely supper.

After supper the Cadets put on a fantastic play called One Order of St John – Hold the pickle, based on the history of St John. This play is eligible for the National Knowledge of the Order prize and has been submitted on behalf of the NT. The winners will be announced at the National Conference in June.

Both Child Protection courses have had fantastic feedback. I have been particularly impressed with the number of adults attending who are not in Cadet Divisions, but are interested in the broader issue of St John as a whole being an organization that is safe for children, wanting the skills and knowledge to deal with child protection issues should they be on duty with a cadet or in the field with a child patient. In total 17 members attended in Palmerston and 12 in Alice Springs. I hope to run a workshop in Katherine soon and another in the Darwin area before the end of the year.

The Territory Cadet Camp and first aid competitions are planned for 26 September – 1 October 2009 and starting to take shape. Once again Paul Berry has come to the rescue to organize the first aid competitions. Accommodation for the camp has been secured at the MacDonnell Range Caravan Park and activities are being finalized. Geoff and his team have decided the camp will have a Survivor theme. The dinner/dance will see everyone dressed as their favorite super hero. Needless to say it will be a challenging and fun camp.