 We're the first of two weekends for the cadet pilot project, which is a project run by CFA to further engage our 16 and 17 year old members So this is the first weekend of two Members who are 16 and 17 years old are able to come on one of these camps to further increase their awareness of fire And their awareness of CFA and just have a little bit of fun with members from throughout the state We're at Camp Stony Stains in Bacchus Marsh for the first cadets weekend for training of 16 and 17 year old members of the CFA. So they spent a day in at the Central Highlands training ground where they got to have some time on the pad as well as certain rescue buildings and a bit of a show-and-tale thanks to Belane Brigade who came out and brought their rescue and their pumper and stuff like that for them to have a look around. And then today we've had the aviation team out and the VR digital guys as well We've been doing a lot of team building a lot of leadership activities with them I think one of the big highlights was going to VemTech yesterday Which is our new Central Highlands training ground run by CFA. They got to play with live fire on the pads Which is our training sort of ground so fire can come up from underneath and they can actually have a go at Fighting fires in a safe environment, which is really really good. They've also had a lot of time with our VR So that's virtual reality things where they can go and fight fires in virtual reality and get a bit of that hands-on experience in a completely safe and controlled environment They've also had some canoeing and some archery as well just to sort of get that team building up The vibe's been amazing seeing young people from all over Victoria come together has just been really really remarkable They've all gelled so well. They've all had a blast I think the staff have all had a blast and probably a little less sleep than we thought we would but It's a really amazing thing for them all being able to bond like that and having those friendships That will hopefully last throughout their lives and throughout their time as a volunteer with CFA We went to the brand-new training center in Balaam and we got to play around with the hot fire props We got to do some hose bowling just some general skills and just some team building activities with all the other younger Volunteers we also got to meet all the staff and see what there really is other than volunteering There's lots of different levels of CFA and what they do. I really loved the weekend I loved you know getting out of the brigade and not only just doing activities and training in the brigade actually Going and doing it at a proper facility for it and also meeting a lot of younger people instead of you know a lot of their older folks from the brigades made a few lifelong friendships I reckon and Had a lot of fun. I would honestly really recommend it It's a good opportunity to make new friends from different brigades and Learn more skills not from your brigades. It was a bit different how they do it and then get a different view on it I've seen a different side of CFA because I'm kind of from a country brigade I don't see some of the big fancy trucks and all the procedures and equipment that they use So it's been real good to get a wider knowledge of that. I really enjoyed this weekend It was a good experience. I'd do it again anytime when I came here first of all I didn't think anything of it. I was like it's gonna be okay, but Since it's the pilot project, it's not gonna be too great and I've been thoroughly wrong. I've enjoyed it very much The highlight for me was probably getting on the gas pad and watching the instructors do their thing at the end of the day Highlight for me was playing with live fire as well as today doing archery and canoeing If you ever do get the chance to do this camp, I highly recommend it It's great fun and you're gonna have great friendships Look, it's a fabulous program Our 16 and 17 year olds are the future of CFA and getting them involved in this way and Enthusiastic about volunteering volunteering in emergency management and the CFA is really going to help us and it's going to help them in their life We're really really proud to have delivered this project