Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex officially opens Sea Cadets' new jetty

The jetty was finally installed in June last year after eight years of dedicated fundraising led to the £152,000 needed to construct it being achieved.

A short ceremony was held on Friday, June 27, when Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex, Lady Emma Barnard, cut the tape after being greeted by Littlehampton Sea Cadets chairman David Moore.

Commanding Officer Lieutenant Brian Osborne met the cadets, officers, instructors and guests, and the Rev Emma Ham-Riche blessed the jetty.

Lady Emma then unveiled the commemoration plaque and proceeded down the jetty to name two rowing boats, which are called Salty and Dottie.

The new 35-metre jetty, attached to a pontoon, will allow the club to accept more members and undertake more regular activities, as it is not affected by low tides.

It was built off site, transported in and constructed using a crane. David said last year: “It was such a relief when I was able to give the go-ahead for the jetty to be built.

"When you’ve been working on a project for a long time, a lot of people ask you how you even keep going.

"It was tricky at times, but it’s amazing now it’s been built.

"Before Covid and all the inflation caused by things like the war on Ukraine, the first estimate we had for the construction was £50,000. But the price of steel and the price of power kept pushing it up and up.

"The goalposts kept shifting, and we thought we’d reached the fundraising target, and suddenly the price had gone up again.”

The Littlehampton Sea Cadets, whose base is in Rope Walk adjacent to where the jetty has been built, were supported by many charities and a £38,000 grant from Rampion wind farm. They were also given around half the money by the Marine Society Sea Cadets.

David said the new jetty would not have been possible without the support of the Marine Society and other charities with the cost of the project constantly increasing due to inflation.

The cadets meet every Tuesday and Friday, and accept members aged 10 to 18. They can then go on to become instructors.

For more information about the cadets, including details of how to join, see https://www.sea-cadets.org/littlehampton