On 1st February, my Regional Air Squadron Trophy team and I departed for RAF Cosford to compete with other CCF contingents in the region.

Months of practicing shooting, first aid, foot drill and leadership tasks helped us secure 1st place after 25 years - having last achieved a top-3 finish 18 years ago.

Not once did I doubt the team's abilities to achieve top 3 - but I never expected for us to come first. As a result, prior to the competition, I made a bet with the team that if we were to come first, I would cut my hair to celebrate the win.

I learnt that perseverance makes the seemingly implausible plausible, and I also learnt not to make bets without thinking about the consequences...

My senior NCOs and I are hoping to raise as much money to the RAF Charitable Trust to celebrate the victory and to give back to a charity which fuels the same drive I saw in my team.

Any and all donations would be very much appreciated!