Area Chairman
Name: Chris Ledger
Occupation: Company Director
Sea Cadet Unit : Eastbourne
Unlike many of his colleagues across the country, Chris Ledger had no involvement with Sea Cadets before joining the management committee of his local Unit. What he did have was a lifetime of business experience. “A fellow sailor and trustee of TS Eastbourne asked if I would help out,” he says. “I became chairman of the Unit in 1990.”
“The Commanding Officer is responsible for day-to-day running of a Unit, but as a Chairman, you are ultimately responsible for its success,” he adds. “It helps to have a good business head.”
The Sea Cadets may be a charity, but it needs money just as much as it needs volunteers. Thanks to his recent appointment as Southern Area Chairman, Chris can take his message area-wide and help all 68 Units keep on the financial straight-and-narrow. “I’ve always tried to impress upon my colleagues that they are in business and if there’s no money or if costs get too high, there’s no business.
“Money aside though, my job is also to cajole and encourage. The area has many willing and able volunteers who give up a lot of their time to help run the Sea Cadets. Sometimes, I’m able to look at their Units and suggest ways of being more effective. When you’re closely involved, it’s sometimes easy to overlook the obvious.”
Of course, the Sea Cadets wouldn’t exist without volunteers, but being a volunteer in a charity organisation still requires teamwork. “Everyone is part of a team and teams need leadership,” says Chris, “just like any other commercial organisation. We must remember we’re a T.E.A.M – Together wE Achieve More!”