Cadets of the Royal Military Academy in Breda Officers went for a walk through the Zaartpark with residents of nursing home Aeneas on Friday. Well packed, in between the rain showers. Cadet Sam feels at home among the residents: “I also have a grandfather who lives in a nursing home. We want to show through this day that we are really part of the city as officer training.”
On the annual ‘Social Corps Day’, other officers in training laid new pavement at the Breda Animal Shelter and collected clothing for the Salvation Army. The Band of Brothers, the music band of the Cadet Corps, performed in various places.
The walk through the park was not exactly marching pace. The residents of the nursing home on Langendijk can enjoy the outdoors for longer, because they don’t go outside that often. “That way the army at least has a function, instead of sitting at the barracks all day,” laughs a resident who is pushed over the footpath in his wheelchair.
Major Stephan van der Wal: “The cadets study right in the center of Breda and the city is often an important part of their lives for four years or more.”
The Cadet Corps was founded in 1879 to increase solidarity and camaraderie and to offer opportunities for relaxation and recreation. Normally about 500 cadets participate in the Social Corps Day, but because of corona there were only 120.