THIRTY-one years of service to Cambridgeshire youth has been rewarded with the award of the MBE to Army Cadet Officer, Major Mark Knight. Mark, 50, from Wisbech St.Mary, has been given the honour in recognition of his work with Cambridgeshire Army Cadet F

THIRTY-one years of service to Cambridgeshire youth has been rewarded with the award of the MBE to Army Cadet Officer, Major Mark Knight.

Mark, 50, from Wisbech St.Mary, has been given the honour in recognition of his work with Cambridgeshire Army Cadet Force, which he joined when he was 14.

Since then Mr Knight has progressed to commissioned service and has held key posts such as county signals officer, Peterborough area commander, county PR officer and, most recently, county training officer, based at cadet headquarters at Waterbeach.

Devoting nearly all his spare time to cadet duties from his day job as a financial controller, in 2005 Mr Knight was awarded the Wilkinson Sword of Excellence for his cadet PR work and hopes his MBE will serve to raise the profile of the Army Cadet movement in general.

He said: There are a lot of other people with similar service who are just as worthy as me. The ACF is very popular and offers young people challenge, adventure and also builds self confidence for a well rounded life. I am proud to be a member of it."

The Army Cadet Force is a national voluntary youth organisation sponsored by, but not part of, the Army. It has 45,000 members aged 12 to 18 and 8,000 volunteer adults in its 1,700 detachments around the UK.