Soap box racing for cadets
EIGHT cadets and leaders from the Leicestershire Police have returned to the German town Krefeld for its annual go-cart race, the soap-box derby.
After last year’s successful trip, the students have returned to enjoy what the twin-town has to offer and take part in this key-date on Krefeld’s calendar.
The cadets flew out at the beginning of September and stayed in the country for a few days, meeting with the town’s Oberbürgermeister (Mayor), the police force and a group of Polish students who were also taking part in the race.
PC Simon O’Connell organised the trip and said: “The cadets really enjoyed taking part last year, and it’s fantastic that we were able to take another group this year.
“I hope that we can continue our annual trip to Krefeld.”
The trip follows a challenge set in June 2015 by a visiting youth group from Krefeld but was made possible in 2016 and 2017 by the City of Leicester European Twinning Association (CLETA) and the International Policing Association (IPA) kindly offering to fund it.
Superintendent Martyn Ball said: “I am extremely excited to be able to reignite the special connection that we hold with Krefeld and our friends from their IPA branch, and it is great to get the younger generations involved with one of our twin-towns.“
Krefeld is located about 16 miles (27km) northwest of Dusseldorf, and is known as ‘The City of Velvet and Silk’ due to its central role in the textile trade.
The German town twinned with Leicester in 1969 as an effort to improve relations following World War II, and a relationship lasting over 40 years has followed.
To find out more about the trip visit the Leicestershire Police Facebook page or the cadet’s Twitter account: @LeicsCadets.