BARROW sea cadet Jay Zaccarini (pictured with the Lord Lieutenant Claire Hensman) has been awarded the Lord Lieutenant Award on behalf of the Queen for his commitment to the Sea Cadet core (TS Sovereign) and his work within the community.

The award is picked by an independent board of cadet and navy forces - five awards were presented out of 100 nominations across the country.

The award was presented at Carlisle Castle earlier this month.

Mr Zaccarini has been in the cadets since he was 12, working his way up to the highest rank, Petty Officer Cadet.

Running up to the award he also won the best all-round cadet for 2018.

The 2018 award was given to him on the basis of hard work within the unit, teaching engineering classes, formally starting up an INTERACT club with the Rotary where we will be working with the Samaritans on raising awareness of mental health in schools and the Furness Area.

As well as this, he won it for attendance, punctuality and the large range of qualifications he has gained from being in the cadets.

These include: Kayaking, Marine Engineering, First Aid, Power boating, Leadership, Rowing and many more.

Mr Zaccarini said: "I was both surprised and delighted to win the award - to be recognised on a national scale for the time I put into the cadets and the work I do within the community made me feel very proud.

"From being in the cadets for the five years, it has helped me in my personal life - from leadership skills to presentational skills it gave me a strong hand when applying for a designer apprenticeship at BAE systems, which I feel was a big factor when it came to getting the job in September 2017.

"Work have described me as 'a very impressive apprentice who has made a positive impact on the programme with his work ethic, involvement in the Apprentice Council and volunteering at Bendrigg (outdoor activity centre for disadvantaged young people)'." Commanding Officer, Jason Zaccarini at the sea cadet unit in Barrow, said: "Jay has shown outstanding leadership, both in terms of his role within the unit and representing the unit externally.

"Jay recently won the Best All Round Cadet award, which recognised his contribution to the unit."