Children of service families serving at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose gathered in Truro Cathedral for a special service of dedication for a new standard for their Helston and Lizard group.

The school children are part of the Her Majesty’s School Heroes (HMS Heroes) scheme of schools in the Culdrose area that provides a focus for support when service parents are deployed.

As a symbol of their unity, children and young people from Helston and the Lizard Peninsular have now purchased their own standard and attended a special service of dedication at Truro Cathedral.

“The children and parents have come together today to worship and dedicate this Standard for HMS Heroes in Helston and the Lizard Peninsula,” said Canon Perran Gay, Precentor and Royal British Legion Chaplain for Cornwall, who took the service.

“We recall acts of heroism that have inspired us in our daily lives and especially those among us who serve in the Armed Forces”.

There to witness the dedication was the Lord-Lieutenant of Cornwall, Colonel Edward Bolitho OBE and the mayors of Truro and Helston, as well as senior officers from RNAS Culdrose.

“HMS Heroes provides a great support network for children who have service parents and creates an environment where they can come together and share their experiences, said Lieutenant Simon Laurence, who serves at RNAS Culdrose and whose daughter was one of the readers during the dedication service.

“The service was pitched exactly right, providing a sense of occasion alongside the friendly familiarity of a gathering of the HMS Heroes community; you could see from their excitement the children really enjoyed it.

“HMS Heroes is a unique pupil voice group formed for the support of service children and young people; working together in harmony to ensure that every member has a voice and is able to use it for the benefit of all. Members of HMS Heroes are ambassadors and young supporters for service families. Most importantly, they are friends for each other, especially in times of need. HMS Heroes started in Plymouth four years ago and has expanded across the country since its humble beginnings and is supported by the Royal British Legion.

Another Royal Navy parent, Petty Officer Sarah Smallwood from RNAS Culdrose also attended with her son Sam. “We really enjoyed the service and there was a great turn out; Sam and I were very proud to be there,” she said.

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