New 'Cadet of the Year' named

Tuesday 05 March 2019

Guernsey’s Matt Holland has handed over the national title of Commandery Cadet of the Year to a young woman from Northern Ireland.

Keesha Steel was given the title at a special ceremony held in the UK, which also marked the end of Mr Holland's tenure.

He had been chosen to represent St John Cadets from Guernsey, Jersey the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, last year having impressed his seniors with his character.

The handover between the two Cadet of the Year title holders took place at Eastwood Hall in Nottingham, in the presence of the Prior and Chairman of St John Ambulance, Surgeon Rear Admiral Lionel Jarvis CBE, Chief Volunteer Ann Cable and other distinguished guests. It was Mr Holland's last official engagement of the year.

Pictured l-r: Chief Volunteer Ann Cable, Matthew Holland, Keesha Steele and the Prior  of the Priority of England & the Islands Surgeon Rear Admiral Lionel Jarvis. Picture credit: Brian Aldrich. 

Throughout his 12 months in the role, Mr Holland has enjoyed a number of varied events, including representing the youth sections of St John at the Buckingham Palace birthday party for Prince Charles and a national memorial for the centenary of the bombing of a St John hospital in France during the First World War.

He said; “It has been an honour to have been the Commandery Cadet of the Year. There have been some amazing opportunities. My highlight of the year has been meeting the other national cadets and spending time with them and my support workers at each event.”

Pictured: Matthew Holland. 

Mr Holland has been a member of St John since joining as a Badger nine years ago. He was selected as Guernsey St John Cadet of the Year in 2018 and went on to be appointed as the Commandery Cadet of the Year for the offshore islands.

Chief Operating Officer for St John Guernsey, Nikki Harrison said: “We are all extremely proud of Matt. He has been an outstanding Cadet of the Year, both for Guernsey and the wider Commandery. He has been a great role model for the youth sections and an excellent ambassador for the work St John does.” 

As well as being an active member of St John Mr Holland is also a keen musician and is studying for his A-Levels.

Pictured top: Matt Holland and Keesha Steel. Picture credit: Brian Aldrich.