DavebytheSea wrote:I have just been telephoned by Pete Kearsey who has discussed all the various issues with me. The letter referred to was apparently sent out in July - before Jonathan had entered the school as a New Dep, even before his induction week. That is why the bill for £30 came as a surprise. Further, it is only now that I know it is a subscription for a whole year and not, as I had feared, termly.
As David Miller points out, however, all these additional fees do add up and Jonathan has been very disappointed that we have been unable to continue his piano and violin lessons now he is at CH
i think the point being missed here is that the cuts in funding, and thus need for subscription, is due to a national cut in defence spending. thus there is nothing pete kearsey, or the school, can do about it (except ask for what even i would consider is a tiny contribution per year, about the same or less as the scouts)
if there is still any doubt that pete kearsey is doing this for anything other than the best of reasons, consider the following points:
he was always, and to the best of my knowledge remains to be, the most popular adult member of CH CCF among cadets.
in his lengthy time as instructor of one of the most underfunded shooting teams in the country (CH) he frequently resorted to spending his own personal money on the team. also nearly all of the kit bar the actual fire-arms themselves belonged to him personally. most of the rest was begged or borrowed from his other team, the local sea cadets.
for no personal gain, he investigated the book keeping of the previous two COs. this had long been called for by many senior cadets. for legal reasons i'm not going to state the outcome (at least one of the previous COs uses the forum). PM me if you can't guess.
throughout his stint as Shooting Instructor, the vast majority of cadets in all three of the services (and in particular the NCOs) openly willed him to be the next Contingent Commander.
as for music lessons, this is indeed very sad. but unless it has changed that drastically in the two and a bit years since i left: anyone who was truly poor OR grade five or above got free tuition.
i am staggered if this is no longer the case for someone who is both truly poor AND above grade five.