Wood Green-based youngsters were among 7 members of Haringey Police cadets awarded Achievement Awards from the Jack Petchey Foundation last week.
The awards, which were presented by acting Borough Commander Des Fahy at Wood Green, are given to youngsters who have been nominated by their organisation as a way to celebrate their achievements.
One local recipient was 16-year-old Greek Cypriot Sophia Doncheff whose parents are Cypriot who only joined the cadets four years ago and is already head cadet in the borough. The teenager, who lives near Turnpike Lane and attends the cadet unit at Gladesmore School in Tottenham, believes she received the award “due to my leadership skills demonstrated through my role of Head Cadet.” She added, “I took matters into my own hands when the junior cadets didn’t have a drill instructor and began teaching them myself. I achieve high grades on each test we are given due to my dedication to revision and I do my best to attend every week to go through drill with the seniors.”
Sophia claims membership of the cadets has helped her in a number of ways such as giving her confidence, knowledge about the police and physical strength noting, “I have loved every moment of cadets and am really excited about being commended as you can tell, because I have worked really hard for my team, family and myself, in order to get a reward and the Jack Petchey Award is something I didn’t expect to achieve.”
