Local cadets head to national engineering competition final backed by Go North East

We're delighted to be supporting four local Royal Air Force Air Cadet squadrons in a national robotics competition, aiming to inspire engineers of the future.

Eighteen cadets from 405 Darlington, 234 Durham, 361 Gateshead and 1313 Whickham squadrons have been competing in the Vex Robotics League, where students are challenged to build and programme robots to battle it out to complete timed tasks. We're supporting the cadet squadrons by providing the six-foot by eight-foot arenas each team needs to compete in the League.

For the cadet squadrons, the mixed gender competition teams are an opportunity for young women and girls to get involved in and lead on engineering projects, an area where women are often underrepresented.

Chloe, one of our first year mechanical and electrical engineering apprentices, was in the air cadets for seven years.

Chloe says: “I’m really pleased that so many young women are involved in this robotics competition. It would have been nice to see an initiative like this when I was a cadet - it’s a great way to inspire young girls to get into engineering!”

Jemma Archer from Gateshead Squadron: "It’s great to see girls like me leading the build team for the competition. I didn’t think I’d be good at this, now I’m helping design our robot’s whole drive system!"

The national final of the competition will take place at the National Air and Space Camp on 20 August 2025 and our Business Director Ben Maxfield will be there to support the teams .

Ben says: “Our engineers are an integral part of the Go North East team so we’re really proud to support young people in our community to get into engineering through Vex Robotics. We wish them the best of luck in the competition!”