For Volunteers Week we’re shining a spotlight on volunteers from across our region, sharing their inspiring contributions to our Cadet Forces.
We interviewed SI Woodward, a Cadet Force Adult Volunteer at Staffordshire and West Midlands (North Sector) Army Cadet Force, to hear his motivations for volunteering, and the fantastic benefits it brings to both volunteers and the young people who join.
Why did you decide to become a volunteer with the ACF?
I decided to become an Adult Volunteer after spending a long period of my younger years as a former Cadet within the Staffordshire side of our county, predominantly I was at the Tunstall Detachment in D Company from 2008 – 2013.
I left with fond memories from camps, and wanted to carry on the adventure and to test my limits further. I looked up to some of the volunteers for many different reasons, and met my lifelong friends that are still in and around me to this day! I wanted to give back to the organisation that has given me so many opportunities.
Tell us about being a volunteer – what types of things do you do on parade nights, at county events and annual camp?
Being a volunteer with the ACF is a very addictive hobby! I’ve been around in the ACF now for roughly 8 years as an Adult Volunteer and my new role is now with the Headquarters of D Company as the company clerk
This role involves assisting with relaying messages to the Detachment Commanders around upcoming camps and events, assisting with schedules for training weekends and making transportation rotas. I also liaise with our volunteers for their availability to help the Company Sergeant Major and the Training officer to build plans for future weekend camps, and ensure future events are staffed. Previous to this role I was a Second in Command at the Bucknall Detachment where I would assist in training from a night-to-night basis alongside the other volunteers.
Describe the most enjoyable aspect of your role
The most enjoyable side to my role (even if I’m of a more office-based role) is seeing the smiles and meeting our Cadets and their characters. I’m a firm believer that you can tell a person’s characteristic by their smile and I can assure you, our cadets have plenty of smiles. Seeing the cadets happy and smiling signals to me that they are learning, building memories and new friendships in the most unlikely circumstances that they would never get by being stuck in a classroom.
What’s the best thing you’ve learnt whilst being a volunteer (it can be a skill, quality, a different perspective etc)?
In the years that I have been around the ACF, the personal skills that I have upgraded and unlocked. I won’t say learnt – because I had the skills already – but the ACF gave me the tools to unlock the confidence to use them in ways I never thought about before. Growing up I was quiet and not very confident and the ACF instilled in me confidence to be presentable, and unlocked my confidence to work with new people through awkward situations. Whether it was through command tasks or simple insecurities of sharing a room or a vehicle with people I didn’t really know, or making conversation. I progressed because someone believed I could achieve this. Unlocking a new found confidence to present lessons to my peers and the responsibility of having a rank all helped me later on in my career and my day to day life.
What three words would you use to sum up your fellow Cadet Force Adult Volunteers – and why?
If I had to sum up the volunteers I work with it would be these three: family, entertaining and passionate – because most of them display all three of these values in everything they do.
Why would you recommend volunteering with the ACF to others?
I will always recommend to volunteer with the ACF for multiple reasons. It gives you a warm sense of achievement when you see the young Cadet I described of being shy and quiet, to see them leave the organisation a completely different person. Knowing you helped to make that change – you cannot put a price on that.
Inspired to find out more about volunteering opportunities with the Cadet Forces in our region? Check out our Cadet Force Adult Volunteers webpage to learn more about the next step.
Published 03/06/25
