The Volunteer Police Cadets

If you're aged between 14 and 19, joining the Police Cadets is the perfect opportunity for you to get involved with the Met and do something worthwhile for your community. It's good fun too.

Who are the Cadets?

The Police Cadets are a force of young volunteers who meet up for a few hours each week to learn new skills, get fit and develop their personal qualities, all while helping to prevent crime and coordinate minor public events in their area.

What do they do?

The easy answer is: have a great time. However, the Cadets isn't just a youth club or somewhere to hang out. It's a serious organisation that is as educational as it is enjoyable.

If you join you'll find yourself doing things like:

• Learning about policing issues and skills such as radio communications, self-defence, drill and dog handling.
• Taking part in various team sports and games.
• Providing an additional uniformed presence at public events like Trooping the Colour, London Marathon, Remembrance Sunday.
• Promoting local crime prevention initiatives by doing things like distributing leaflets and assisting with mobile phone and property marking schemes.
• Taking part in Met training exercises.
• Going on outdoor excursions and camping expeditions that often count towards the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme.

Not only are these activities great fun in their own right, they'll also teach you loads about yourself and potentially help prepare you for the challenges of becoming a Police Officer in the future.

Who's it for?

Basically, anyone between the ages of 14 and 19 can apply to be a Cadet, with the option to continue to the age of 21.

Apart from age, the main requirement is that you have the enthusiasm and commitment to attend weekly meetings and make an active and valuable contribution. The Cadets are an important part of the Met, so it's important that you only join if you are serious about the opportunity.

Get involved

The Met Volunteer Programme

If the Cadets isn't your thing, and you're aged 18 or over, you may be able to get involved with your local police through the Met Volunteer Programme. This gives people the opportunity to get more involved in their communities, carrying out all sorts of non-uniformed roles, developing valuable new skills and experience in the process. Find out more about the Met Volunteer Programme

Safer Neighbourhood Teams

Every area in London will soon have its own Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) - a group of Police Officers and Police Community Support Officers dedicated to local issues and policing. Your local SNT wants to hear from you, to get your views on the issues facing your community and work with you in making it a better place for everyone. Find your local team via www.met.police.uk/saferneighbourhoods

Get streetwise

You can also get involved indirectly simply by learning a bit more about what you can do to stay safe, protect your property and generally be a good citizen. Helping to prevent criminal and anti-social behaviour in this way is just as important as police work, so never underestimate the effect your everyday behaviour can have on your quality of life, or that of the people around you. You can find out more about getting streetwise - including how to have a good time without taking unnecessary risks, how to tackle bullying, how to protect your mobile phone and how to approach going on a date - by visiting the Met's Youth Zone at www.met.police.uk/youngpeople