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Gwent
County News
2009/2010
During a conversation over lunch between the Commanding Officer of HMS Monmouth, Cdr Tony Long, and myself on board the Class 23 Frigate, during one of the ship’s regular courtesy visits to South Wales in April, Cdr Long offered to invite some youngsters from the youth initiatives supported by The Gwent High Sheriffs’ Community Fund for a ‘working’ day at sea. He wanted the youngsters to experience a day that might be potentially life-changing by giving them an opportunity to witness and shadow the members of the ship’s crew whilst ‘exciting and interesting things’ were going on, not merely seeing the ship when she was moored dockside.
I sounded out the group leaders from the ‘Midnight Sports’ community initiative from Duffryn Community Link in Newport and the ‘Time to Engage the Young’ initiative based in Pontypool. These two programmes had been supported with grants from The Gwent High Sheriffs’ Community Fund because of their proven track record in helping youngsters from difficult backgrounds reconnect with their communities and take the initial and sometimes difficult steps necessary to realise their true potential. The response from the group leaders was immediately positive and enthusiastic.
We were given about ten days notice that we were to meet at 6am at Devonport Dockyard to be taken by lighter to where HMS Monmouth was moored just inside the breakwater in Plymouth Sound. HMS Monmouth has recently completed a refit and has spent the last six months having all her systems trialled and tested before deployment on a seven-month mission to the East of Suez. We were joining the ship six days before she was due to sail on this mission so we were to witness some of the ship’s final trials – part of which was to include a simulated air attack when the ship’s crew would be at full battle stations. The group consisted of eight youngsters, four youth leaders and me (well I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity of a lifetime was I?). There was a bleary-eyed (some of us had left South Wales at 3am) sense of anticipation as we assembled on a chilly, dark September morning to be greeted by two of HMS Monmouth’s sailors who had been detailed to look after us until we were on board the ship – they too felt it was an ungodly hour to be up and about but immediately established a rapport with the youngsters as we went through our safety briefings.
Imagine this: a teenager from the Midnight Sports initiative had never been outside Newport in his life and here he was wearing a Naval life jacket sailing out into Plymouth Sound past the oldest dockyard in the country (dating from Drake’s time), past the ultra modern nuclear submarine facility, the marina with its sleek white ‘gin palaces’, and out into the Sound where our first site of HMS Monmouth was framed against the early-morning sun. Yes, he was slightly apprehensive, but we all were in our own ways. However, by the end of the day, he was revelling in the wonderful new experiences as his confidence grew.
We were greeted by Cdr Tony Long as we boarded. He explained that he had a busy day as his boss was on board to check that HMS Monmouth was ‘ship shape’ and in readiness for her imminent deployment (no pressure then!) but we would be entrusted into the capable hands of Lt Jason Bond (immediately referred to as either ‘James’ or ‘secret agent’ by the youngsters) who would be our liaison officer for the day. The next 13 hours passed in a whirl of activity during which we were shown every aspect of the ship’s functioning from the galley to the engine room, the bridge to the control room, the ‘heads’ to the ‘mess’, and the flight deck to the gun and missile deck and yes, we did experience what it was like to take evasive action as we steamed at 28 knots whilst being buzzed by naval jets passing less than two metres above our heads. The youngsters were also buzzing despite their early morning start.
I felt privileged to witness their reactions as they interacted with members of the crew and gained in self-confidence as each new experience came their way. This self-confidence was reflected in the quality of the questions and the recalling of facts from previous briefings, something which the youngest member of the party, at 13, excelled at, a fact that was repeatedly commented on by the members of the ship’s company that he spoke to. Unfortunately, space does not allow me to do justice to the day. However by quoting from some of the ‘thank you’ emails you might obtain an insight into how much this day meant to the participants. Firstly from Bob Barry the Community Development worker jointly supporting ‘Midnight Sports’: ‘I’m struggling to find enough superlatives to describe the day. Brilliant just won’t do. The youngsters are absolutely buzzing. Lucy and I were proud of the way our young people behaved…..thanks to all for understanding the issues we deal with. Best wishes to HMS Monmouth and all who sail in her’.
From Joanne Davies, leader of ‘Time to Engage the Young’: ‘I can’t begin to thank you for the opportunity you gave to my young people yesterday. I’m sure that this day is going to stay with them for some time and hopefully for life’.
From Lt Jason Bond to the youth leaders: ‘I am privileged to have been involved where I could be and sincerely hope it was an ‘eye opener’ and fun. On a personal note, I take great pride in our youngsters of England and Wales and I can only admire the dedication that people, such as yourself, show in assisting those from less fortunate circumstances. Thank you for your continued selflessness.’
I end by saying publicly a big thank you to the Commanding Officer and ship’s company of HMS Monmouth for allowing this visit to take place during a pressurised and busy time for all on the ship.
It will take something really special to prevent this from being the highlight of my term as High Sheriff.
Stephen Hughes
High Sheriff of Gwent 2009/2010
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