Our Coldhams Lane Army Reserve Centre was the venue for the Desert Rat Challenge event, a STEM team-building day organised by the reservists of CUOTC this Spring.
School children from Trumpington and Martin Bacon Academy, which supports children with SEND, attended the Desert Rat Challenge at Coldhams Lane Army Reserve Centre.
The Challenge was hosted by Cambridge University Officer Training Corps (CUOTC) and saw Officer Cadets and Army Reserve Staff put on a series of challenges, which tested their STEM skills, team work and initiative.
The reservists CUOTC ( see 10% of the best amateur shots in the Army Reserves are Cambridge UOTC Officer Cadets) also host a couple of similar STEM team-building events for adults.
Army Reserves staff and Officer Cadets at Cambridge University Officer Training Corps are supporting Army Engagement in East Anglia by offering leadership training events to local businesses. The Cambridge RFCA Employer Engagement group assisted the unit in selecting and contacting local businesses to be involved in an event dubbed ” Exercise Executive Leader” wherein local businesses are invited to send their leadership team members on a military-themed leadership training day.
The Desert Rat Challenge for the schoolchildren also included glimpses into various aspects of military life, administrating in the field, ceremonial duties and weapon handling. The teachers seemed impressed by how the children reacted to the different learning environment, which allowed some children that struggle in conventional education settings to demonstrate some of their potential.
Lieutenant Colonel Matt Helsby is the Commanding Officer of CUOTC. He said: “The Desert Rat Challenge hosted by CUOTC is run bi-annually, giving children from around the Cambridge area a chance to experience something new, to stretch and develop themselves.”
