Cadet uniforms
Discussion
Our son has been going to cadets for almost a year now & is loving it, myself & my OH help out where we can, fund raising etc.
Just had a conversation with the lady that does the Admin & she has confirmed that we are paying c£200 per cadet uniform! There is also an 8wk lead time apparantly.
Does anybody in PH land know a good supplier or even able to supply these themselves? It is a significant cost to us, especially when kids leave & never return their uniform (discussing upping the deposit to reduce this).
Just had a conversation with the lady that does the Admin & she has confirmed that we are paying c£200 per cadet uniform! There is also an 8wk lead time apparantly.
Does anybody in PH land know a good supplier or even able to supply these themselves? It is a significant cost to us, especially when kids leave & never return their uniform (discussing upping the deposit to reduce this).
Err since when do you have to pay? cadet uniforms are usually surplus kit supplied by the MOD, the MOD are currently changing over uniforms to as far as im aware and cadets are usually a generation or 2 behind so there should be plenty of surplus kit.
A few years ago you only had to supply boots & socks.
What is the kit list?
A few years ago you only had to supply boots & socks.
What is the kit list?
Daughter was an air cadet for some time before her health problems forced her to drop out. Her uniform was mostly provided by them, skirt, blouses, jumpers, foul weather macs, hat etc were issued free of charge, we were responsible for combat trousers, boots and camp items such as rucksacks and compasses and the like.
As daughter is the skinniest thing in the world we couldn't use the Army and Navy stores as literally nothing fit her so we ended up mostly on eBay.
Well worth it though, I'd have been happy to buy all the uniform if needed as she loved it and the experiences she had (flying planes etc) will stay with her forever.
As daughter is the skinniest thing in the world we couldn't use the Army and Navy stores as literally nothing fit her so we ended up mostly on eBay.
Well worth it though, I'd have been happy to buy all the uniform if needed as she loved it and the experiences she had (flying planes etc) will stay with her forever.
Foliage said:
Err since when do you have to pay? cadet uniforms are usually surplus kit supplied by the MOD, the MOD are currently changing over uniforms to as far as im aware and cadets are usually a generation or 2 behind so there should be plenty of surplus kit.
A few years ago you only had to supply boots & socks.
What is the kit list?
We take cadets from 10-16 - MoD surplus ain't gonna be much use for most of 'em! We have sourced some boots now, when my lad joined we had to buy our own.A few years ago you only had to supply boots & socks.
What is the kit list?
They have two sets, combats & blues, it's the blues that are costing us £200.
http://www.fieldtextiles.co.uk/ is the official disposal route for clothing and 'soft' equipment, however I would assume this is who your QM already gets his kit from if not direct from MoD.
I would suggest an alternate route would be to contact regular and reserve units affiliated to your ACF's cap badge and see if they can help out.
I would suggest an alternate route would be to contact regular and reserve units affiliated to your ACF's cap badge and see if they can help out.
I can only speak for the RAF but you had to ensure it was proper RAF uniform.
Local sqn uniform i.e t-shirts, badges, patterns were not authorised by the MOD for formal wear - although can be worn for general duties etc at sqn.
You could buy your own, but you had to make 100% sure it was correct down to the letter of the regs.
Sure you already know this though!
Local sqn uniform i.e t-shirts, badges, patterns were not authorised by the MOD for formal wear - although can be worn for general duties etc at sqn.
You could buy your own, but you had to make 100% sure it was correct down to the letter of the regs.
Sure you already know this though!
LordHaveMurci said:
Just to confirm, it's not the parents paying for the uniforms, it's the cadet corp. When you're buying a lot of uniforms it gets very expensive & believe it or not but we're not very well funded at the moment. Many of our cadets are teeny so surplus kit is not much use to them!
Are you sure it isn't a paper exercise?In air cadets the uniform cost, but was funded by the RAF.
I assumed this would be the same for other cadets.
LordHaveMurci said:
We take cadets from 10-16 - MoD surplus ain't gonna be much use for most of 'em! We have sourced some boots now, when my lad joined we had to buy our own.
They have two sets, combats & blues, it's the blues that are costing us £200.
I'll refer you too Air Cadet Administration Instructions, Instruction no.204, Page 21. Also Sizes shouldn't be an issue.They have two sets, combats & blues, it's the blues that are costing us £200.
When I joined the Air Training Corps in about 1994 I think it was, we were told that the uniforms cost £200. Myself and my mate thought that this meant we had to pay. It took a direct question from my mate about paying for the uniform for the slightly gormless cadet sergeant to tell us that we were issued the kit and just had to promise to look after it and return it when we were finished with it.
Perhaps this is a similar confusion?
Perhaps this is a similar confusion?
It's funded by the RAF. Cadets usually have to pay a monthly subscription, but this is to cover the running costs of the squadron, not uniform. The squadron I help out at issue a full set of blues, CS95 and coveralls.
Generally cadets will get issued a complete set of uniform, but will usually be expected to source their own shoes. When I was a cadet many moons ago, surplus shops were the best for this, but there are now sites like cadet direct, which quite a few people use.
Generally cadets will get issued a complete set of uniform, but will usually be expected to source their own shoes. When I was a cadet many moons ago, surplus shops were the best for this, but there are now sites like cadet direct, which quite a few people use.
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