Leicester Police Cadets visit Krefeld
Krefeld gets a visit from Leicester – Cadets take part in the soapbox race ·
Young people from Leicester have now visited the Silk City. Some of them took part in the soapbox race on the Hülser Berg during this time. What the cadets experienced in Krefeld.
Lord Mayor Frank Meyer (centre) and City Director Markus Schön (left) welcomed the delegation from Leicester to the soapbox race, with several English young people also taking part themselves.
When Lord Mayor Frank Meyer visited the Krefeld soapbox race, he had pinned a pin with the German and British flags to his lapel. After all, he not only opened the event at Hülser Berg; Frank Meyer also welcomed ten young police cadets and their two supervisors from Krefeld’s twin city Leicester. The international exchange between Krefeld and British young people has a tradition, as does the timing of the soapbox race.
However, the fast-paced event was only one of numerous activities during the four-day stay in Germany, which the “Police Cadets” spent together with 15 Krefeld young people from the Youth Advisory Council and the Freizeitzentrum Süd.
When their plane took off again for England on Monday evening, the British tour group had an impressive, densely staggered short trip behind them. The program was organized and accompanied by Melanie Ungerechts from the Department of Youth Welfare and Employment Promotion. “We had a really good time together. The groups quickly mixed with each other and got along very well. And that is exactly what the regular exchanges are intended to achieve: to get to know the realities of life and framework conditions of young people from another country, to network, to live the European idea,” says Ungerechts.
Just last year, a Krefeld delegation visited Leicester. The trip – as well as the current return visit – was supported by funding from the state program “TeamUp”. The cadet system in the English police can be compared to the volunteer fire brigade in this country. The young people meet once a week to do charitable work and to be introduced to the police profession both theoretically and practically. They are looked after by “cadet leaders”, full-time police officers who also take care of the young cadets in their free time.
Two of them are Jenny Weilandt and Mark Walls, who have now accompanied the young people aged 15 to 17 to Germany. “The trip to Krefeld was a reward for many young people, as they have recently distinguished themselves through special commitment in the six cadet groups of Leicestershire Police,” explains Jenny Weilandt, who works as a patrol officer in Leicester. “But it was also a great experience for my colleague and me to get to know our twin city in person.” After arriving on Friday, both youth groups met for the first time at lunch in Krefeld’s city center. They were welcomed here by City Director Markus Schön, Sonja Pommeranz, Head of the Department of Youth Welfare and Employment Promotion, and Silke Wintersig, Head of the Youth Department.Afterwards, the Krefeld young people presented their hometown at a city rally.
In the evening, they continued the exchange in a relaxed atmosphere with games and a joint barbecue in the South Leisure Centre. On Saturday, things got really sporty for the young visitors. We went to archery and a little later to the climbing forest. At that time, the young people had long since mixed their teams with each other. The subsequent refreshment then developed into a real highlight, especially for the guests from Leicester: A joint kebab dinner rounded off the second day.
Flying visit to Von-der-Leyen-Platz: The city rally that the Krefeld young people had organized for their British guests also included a stop at Krefeld’s town hall.
With the soapbox race on Sunday, the English young people got to know a real Krefeld tradition. And four of them even rolled down the Hülser Berg themselves in a Leicester box designed in earlier years. After the race was over, the young people went bowling together. The final Monday was also exciting: here the cadets visited the Krefeld police. After the welcome by Police President Ursula Mecklenbrauck, they visited the operations control center and the North Police Station. There, the Leicester group got a demonstration of the motorcycle group (a motorcycle unit of the police), a patrol car crew and the service dog handler.
The final lunch was the last item on the agenda of an exciting weekend before heading to Düsseldorf Airport. “It was very difficult for the young people to say goodbye,” says Melanie Ungerechts. “Many have networked via social media. And we’ve already received an invitation to Leicester.“
