Paige honoured for service as Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet

Paige honoured for service as Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet

14 July 2021

WHEN Ballynahinch teenager Paige Davison was honoured last year after being appointed to serve as the Queen’s Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet for County Down, she envisaged 12 months of civic occasions and a packed diary.  

The reality proved quite different and Paige found herself stepping up to the unique challenge of a year defined by a pandemic.

Paige — who has long been an enthusiastic member of 2004 Squadron Air Training Corps — was appointed to serve in the largely ceremonial role for 12 months, attending Mr David Lindsay CVO, the Queen’s Lord Lieutenant for County Down, at civic occasions.

As she completed her year in office and was presented with a commemorative certificate and the prestigious Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet insignia to wear on her uniform, Paige admitted that those civic occasions had been dramatically curtailed in 2020/21. 

Brim-full of enthusiasm and commitment, however, Paige made the most of her year in office and her contribution to the Cadet movement during difficult times earned particular praise from the Lord Lieutenant as he presented Paige with a commemorative certificate of her unusual year in office.

The citation, which accompanies that certificate, describes the lively Cadet Sergeant as “an enthusiastic and intelligent cadet who has progressed steadily through her classification syllabus and beyond”.

Paige was praised for being ready to volunteer for all activities available to her where she has gained qualifications in gliding, air experience flying, shooting, leadership, advanced radio communications and cyber.

She also has already achieved her Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards, much of which Paige completed in her own time.

She has also represented the Corps in national events, including ATC shooting, Aerospace Camp and STEM and was an enthusiastic member of the unit’s media team which recently won the ATC Scotland and Northern Ireland regional competition.

Paige is looking forward to life getting back to the adventurous normality which prevails with 2004 Squadron Air Training Corps when it meets at The Cadet Centre at Harmony Way in Ballynahinch soon.