8 Sqn Chharity - How it Happened

8 Sqn Charity - How it Happened

With the imminent drawdown of 8 Sqn at Waddington and the handover of buildings including our beloved RedRock (Sqn Bar), we felt we should auction off as much of the contents as we could with the aim of raising funds for a few charities that were close to the hearts of many on the Squadron.

In the last couple of years, we have lost two members of the Sqn: Cpl Shaun Dakin and Sgt Shaun Byrne. Both were liked and well respected by everyone and their passing hit the Sqn members hard. We felt the money raised would be best donated to the charities their families had chosen to support.

Cpl Dakin’s family were keen to support a Mental Health charity (Combat Stress).

Sgt Shaun Byrne has a young family, and they choose to support Scotty’s Little Soldiers.

The auction date was set for 14th July 2022, we searched for items that would be saleable. Luckily the RedRock was a veritable treasure trove of quirky items “acquired” over 30 years of Sentry world travel. Pictures were taken and a portfolio started to take shape.

OC 8 had also written a wonderful poem to celebrate the 30 years of Sentry. The poem was called “Ode to Sentry” and was very well received. CT Hoskin and Sgt Kernohan Supported by Mr Will Burton (54 Sqn reprographics) decided to take her words and transformed them into something we could sell to add to the charity auction pot.

We had 200 Poems created each numbered and signed by OC 8 (Wg Cdr V Williams) all with an E3D gold wax stamp. Numbers 1 -8 were Special edition, with 1-7 being the Aircraft Tail numbers and number 8 as a special edition for 8 Sqn. These were framed and etched and were put up for blind bids before the start of the auction. Number 9 -200 were all on sale at £5 per poem. Some Poems are still available, £5 contact Sgt Kernohan (garry. kernohan952@mod.gov.uk).

The auction was organised by CT Avis, and AS1(T) Dale Smith stepped up as a last-minute Compere/ Auctioneer, he did an excellent job keeping everyone entertained. With a special box to stand on so he could see over the lectern, and freshly applied mahogany tan that David Dickinson would have been proud of, Dale did a fantastic job of encouraging the audience to part with as much money as he could. He also managed to increase the price for the special edition poems getting over 3 figures on most of them! In total, the night of the auction managed to make £2121.22. With other items sold from the RedRock that were not on the official auction, and profits from the sale of Sqn Coins, T Shirts, Patches all going into the pot, we raised a further £431.20.

The full total £2552.42 being split between Combat Stress and Scotty’s little soldiers each receiving £1276.21. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved with organising and setting up of the auction event and everyone on 8 Sqn and beyond who attended and put their hand in their pocket to support the auction and the charities.

Sgt Garry Kernohan 8 Sqn Eng