295 (Witham & Rivenhall) Squadron ATC

03/09/2026

We’re delighted to announce the promotion of our Officer Commanding, Flying Officer Cordeiro, to Flight Lieutenant!

Having joined the RAF Air Cadets 10 years ago as a cadet, she has come a long way and has been leading 295 Squadron since April 2025.

With a passion for DofE, Adventure Training and First Aid, she continues to provide our cadets with opportunities to challenge themselves, learn new skills and make memories.

Congratulations ma’am!

26/08/2026

Huge congratulations to Sgt Smith who recently completed his Gold Advanced Cyber Specialist Course.

Sgt Smith spent the week at RAF Cosford with RAF Cyber Specialists, where he was taught the five main components of the RAF Phase 2 Cyber Training Course. These included Cyber Safety, National and International Cyber Law, Cyber Warfare, System Defence and Attack Methods. The cadets took part in all theory and practical sessions, which later concluded in an assessment at the end of the course.

The directing staff also highlighted that this cohort of cadets was the best group they had taught from RAFAC!

Well done Sgt Smith!

20/08/2026

Our Civilian Committee Secretary, Caroline Cordeiro, is taking on a very exciting challenge whilst she’s in New Zealand - a tandem skydive! She’s doing this in order to raise money for a new squadron minibus.

As many of you will be aware, our current minibus is no longer fit for purpose. A new minibus will make a real difference, not just to the cadets today, but to many young people in the future, helping them take part in experiences and opportunities they might otherwise miss.

Please support Caroline’s jump and help us reach — and hopefully beat — her £300 target! 🪂

Iʼm raising money to fund a new minibus for 295 (Witham & Rivenhall) Royal Air Force Air Cadets. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.

30/07/2026

Earlier this month, our staff and cadets took part in a sponsored walk to help raise money for a new squadron minibus.

The walk started at the squadron and ended outside Rivenhall IWMF, which is the old site of RAF Rivenhall. The cadets walked a whopping 13km and they certainly had some sore feet afterwards!

So far, we have raised an outstanding £2,330 thanks to the kindness and generosity of our friends, family and members of the community. Your support means that we have a way of transporting our cadets to events and activities that other young people wouldn’t normally get the chance to experience!

A special shoutout to Cpl Ingram who came up with the idea in the first place!

Essex Wing Air Cadets Royal Air Force Air Cadets Commandant Air Cadets

17/07/2026

As part of our recent STEM challenges, our cadets have been taking on a unique engineering challenge: designing and building Lego Trebuchets!

While it looked like a lot of fun (and let's be honest, launching things always is!), there was some serious high-flying education happening behind the scenes. By trading flight simulators for building blocks, our cadets got hands-on experience with Mechanical Engineering:

1: Understanding leverage, counterweights, and pivot points.

2: Aerodynamics & Ballistics: Calculating trajectories and release angles to maximize distance.

3: Teamwork & Problem-Solving: Testing, failing, tweaking, and triumphing together.

From rapid prototyping to the final competitive launch, these young minds proved that the fundamentals of flight and engineering start with the simplest tools!

17/07/2026

Last week, we were delighted to be joined by some members of the Essex Freemasons from Witham Masonic Lodge. After reading about our fundraising challenge for a new minibus, they very kindly donated £250 towards our cause.

We’re incredibly grateful for their support and generosity. It’s wonderful to see our local community getting behind our cadets and helping us work towards a vehicle that will enable even more opportunities, adventures, and experiences for the young people in our squadron.

A huge thank you to everyone who has donated or supported our fundraising so far – every contribution, no matter the size, brings us one step closer to our goal.

28/06/2026

Due to the heat warning this weekend, we unfortunately had to postpone our sponsored walk to the 18th July.

On the plus side, that means there’s plenty more time to donate!!

Iʼm raising money to fund a minibus for 295 (Witham & Rivenhall) Royal Air Force Air Cadets. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.

24/06/2026

Congratulations to Cdt Wiseman who was awarded with Cadet of the Month for May!

Cdt Wiseman showed great skill and leadership when she co-lead the Temple at War Project, helping to come up with great ideas to fundraise for the squadron and make our pitch more interactive with the public.

Congratulations Cdt Wiseman!

24/06/2026

At the beginning of the month, our squadron had the fantastic opportunity of visiting our local fire station to get an insight into the role they have in our community.

The cadets learned about how the Fire Service operates, the equipment on board a fire truck, the training it takes to become a fire fighter and even got to see the process of how a car gets cut open to rescue someone inside.

The cadets then had some fun trying out the hoses and getting a bit damp after a very warm day!

Thank you to the fire firefighters and volunteers at Witham Fire Station for working tirelessly to protect our community, and for inviting us on such a great insight day!