With nine GCSE exams to sit, having
completed 14, Ciara McAleese (16) took
some time out to talk to Sam Bennett
about being a Community Champion,
the future of Carterton and her leaving
the town.
“They’re going really well,” Ciara McAleese
says of her GCSEs thus far. “Hopefully
they will continue to go well for the next
three weeks.”
Exams have meant a slight break from
the Brize Norton Air Cadets for Ciara,
something she has been a part of since
January 2013. “It’s given me fantastic
opportunities,” she says. “I’ve gone to
Germany with the cadets and I’m going to
Gibraltar with them. The things that you’re
able to do…I’d never have flown a plane by
myself if I hadn’t joined. It’s just incredible.”
In 2011 Ciara joined Carterton Community
Champions, serving as Vice President in
her first year. The following year might
have seen her automatically promoted
to President but she allowed others the
chance to fill this position. She recalls:
“Because I was so young, and there were
other people in the group who I felt would
probably be able to take on the role and
wouldn’t be in the Champions many more
years, I thought I’d step back and let them
do it.”
Her year as President did come though
and saw her lead the Champions in
running Jeans Up Friday (February
2015). This initiative, supported by David
Cameron
and Carol
Vorderman,
aimed to
get all of
Carterton
wearing
jeans for
the day,
so as to
raise funds
for the RAF
Benevolent Fund
and 2267 Squadron
Brize Norton Air Cadets.
In continuation of their fundraising
efforts for RAF BF and the air cadets, a
week later the Champions ran Primary
Community Song, bringing together
Carterton’s primary schools in a big
group rendition of ‘Ain’t No Mountain
High Enough’, making money through
donations, refreshments and a tombola.
Jeans Up Friday and Primary Community
Song raised a total of £1811.90 which was
spilt between the two causes.
Ciara is trying to get into Welbeck
Defence Sixth Form College. Succeeding
at this guarantees her a place in the RAF,
in which both her parents have served. It’s
not an easy task she’s undertaken. When
I spoke to the teenager in June she had
already been on “a lengthy and intense
process since November 15.” Welbeck
applicants face an interview, a medical
A Carterton Character
Ciara McAleese
Ciara white water rafting with the Air Training Corps
Receiving the Regional Commandants Award for
Meritorious Service to the Air Training Corps
© Stephens Photography
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