Sea Cadets from the Scottish Fraserburgh Unit stepped up to help their local community as Storm Arwen wreaked havoc across Scotland.
Quickly turning their unit into an emergency shelter, they went about serving hot drinks and food to locals whose homes had been damaged and were without electricity or who were stranded due to cancelled transport services.
The local Sea Cadets had just moved into their new premises last week on Commerce Street in Fraserburgh, a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, about 40 miles north of Aberdeen, when the storm struck.
'As soon as the red weather warning was issued, we began preparing to offer support to the community and started posting Facebook messages with offers of support,' explains Mr Kevin Rae, the of Fraserburgh Unit. 'Then, Police Scotland got in touch about providing shelter for stranded members of the community. We got to work immediately to be able to help.'
Both the young cadets and adult volunteers scrambled to get bedrooms set up within their unit for anyone in need, while the main deck was set up with tables, chairs to serve soup and hot drinks.
'We tried to make our unit as welcoming as possible for people who needed support and there was a steady flow of people who came in during the weekend,' said the Commanding Officer of the local Sea Cadet Unit, Lieutenant Commander (SCC) Craig Trail RNR. 'We welcomed a single mother and her baby as well as many senior citizens seeking some warmth, sustenance and comfort.'
Teenaged cadets at the unit also got stuck in to help in any way they could. Petty Officer Andrew, a seventeen-year-old cadet at Fraserburgh Unit said: 'It was great to see the community get together in the hour of need, the older cadets and the volunteers worked round the clock to ensure there was support available where needed.'
Another cadet, 15-year-old Able Cadet Lewis said: 'I was proud of the fact that within a week of moving into our new headquarters, we were able to support the community this way.'
The unit is also planning on assisting with the clean up after the damage caused by the storm, as soon as it's safe to do so.
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