An Afghan war veteran who has become the new leader of Penryn's Army Cadet Force has been drumming up support as he looks to entice new members.

Jamie Streets, whose 15 year career in the Household Cavalry included two tours in Kosovo and one in Afghanistan and then a training regiment before he was medically discharged, has taken over the Penryn unit as it awaits the completion of work on a new hall off the Helston Road.

Jamie said: “When I left the forces, I wanted to give something back to the children.

“I'd like to take the military experience I've got and pass it down the line, to make them better children and citizens.

“It's seeing the children who, at the end of the day, might be a bit naughty in school: they come here and you see the transformation in them. They come and you turn them around.”

He added it was all worth it for the enjoyment the children have, “to see the their smiles, their faces at the end of camps” and to see those who were once shy excel.

Father of four Jamie feels his experience is helpful in looking after the cadets: “I was posted to a training regiment teaching kids of 16 and upwards, and so I have experience and knowledge of how kids operate, and being a family man myself.”

The unit has been parading in Falmouth since February when work started to upgrade the hall, and Jamie is looking forward to bringing the group home and trying to build up membership.

He said: “Currently we've got 15 on the books, which is quite a small detachment.”

However he said news is starting to spread, online and through word of mouth, and although the distance to Falmouth is too much for some children to travel, he feels once the unit returns to Penryn “it will get a lot more people coming.”

The cadets is run for boys and girls aged 12 to 18, who undertake all sorts of activities from drilling to shooting - the new building will have a practice range - to first aid training, as well as residential weekends at RAF St Mawgan, participation in the Duke of Edinburgh Award and competing in various sports, which could see them rise to county level and beyond.

The group, which currently parades in Falmouth on Wednesdays between 7pm and 9pm, currently has two other sergeants and a female officer, and Jamie stressed that it was not a recruiting tool for the armed forces.

He is hoping to recruit both children and adult helpers, with no previous experience needed, and is also keen for more girls to join, with only two or three current female members.

For information or to join the Army Cadet Force, call 01208 73183 or visit www.armycadets.com/cornwallacf.