Girls Venture Corps
| Girls Venture Corps Air Cadets | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Active | 1940 - Present |
| Role | Volunteer Youth Organisation |
| Headquarters | Sheffield |
| Commanders | |
| Corps Commandant | Yvonne McCarthy |
The Girls Venture Corps Air Cadets (GVCAC) is a voluntary uniformed youth organisation for girls aged between 11 and 20, It is also a registered charity, and is a member of The National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS). The current Corps Director is Brenda Layne, MBE, and the Corps Commandant is Yvonne McCarthy. The GVCAC receives no funding from the Ministry of Defence (MoD). All adult staff members are subject to security and Criminal Records (CRB) checks.
The GVC has its origins in 1940 as part of the National Association of Training Corps for Girls, this umbrella organisation was responsible for the Girls Training Corps (GTC), Girls' Nautical Training Corps (GNTC) and Women’s Junior Air Corps (WJAC).
Former Air Transport Auxiliary Pilot, Diana Barnato Walker became a pilot for the Women's Junior Air Corps (WJAC) shortly after the war, giving cadets training and air-experience flights to air-minded teenage girls to encourage them to enter the aviation industry. In July 1948, an aircraft that she was flying burst into flames at near White Waltham. Rather than bale out and lose the WJAC’s aircraft, she switch off the fuel and glided the aircraft back. In 1963 she undertook a flight in an English Electric Lightning, attaining 1,262 mph (Mach 1.65) in a two-seat T.4 trainer and thus became the first British woman to exceed the speed of sound.
In 1964 the Girls Venture Corps replaced both GTC and WJAC, the previous year (1963) the Girls Nautical Training Corps became more closely involved with the Sea Cadet Corps and in 1980 had become an integral part of the Sea Cadet Corps and ceased to be a separate organisation. The Girls Venture Corps had two wings corresponding to the former GTC and WJAC, it was common at this time for former GTC units to share premises with Army Cadet Force units and for former WJAC units to share premises with Air Training Corps units. From 1983 girls were accepted into the ACF and ATC, this caused many GVC cadets to transfer to their respective counterparts, due to this decrease in number the GVAC had to decide which activities to concentrate on. It was decided that the GVC would focus on air activities and in 1987 the organisation was renamed 'Girls Venture Corps Air Cadets'.
...
Wikipedia