Cadets on target in national competition

The team, made up of cadets from the all over the county, took part in the annual inter- service cadet rifle meeting at Bisley in Surrey.

Competing against the best young shooters from all of the cadet forces in the UK they finished an outstanding eighth out of 84 teams.

Six of their team earned rankings in the top 100 with Cadet Sergeant Lewis Kennan from Kingsway detachment leading the way in 32nd place overall and Cadet Sergeant Aiden Butcher from Chapel-En-Le-Frith detachment not far behind in 40th out of 328 competitors

Also breaching the top 100 for Derbyshire were Cadet Corporal Matthew Rollisson from Long Eaton detachment in 71st, Cadet Corporal Christopher Bingham from Boythorpe detachment in 72nd, Cadet Lance Corporal Harry Dickerson, also from Long Eaton detachment in 81st and Cadet Elodie Edwards from Clay Cross detachment in 84th.

Adult volunteer, Second Lieutenant Ben Hirst, is the county shooting officer for Derbyshire Army Cadet Force and was responsible for the cadets’ training for the event.

He said: “I previously competed as a cadet for Derbyshire in this event where we had a lot of success, but last year was the first time we have competed since 2012.

“It is my personal goal to bring Derbyshire shooting team back to their former glory and I’m really delighted with how the cadets performed at Bisley. I am extremely proud of the commitment that both cadets and staff have shown in the lead up to this competition.

“After the progress made in the last 12 months I am really excited to see what success we can bring in the next few years.”