A GROUP of young people got the chance to replace parts of an aircraft and wear sea survival equipment during a visit to a navy base.

Fourteen students from Ferndown Upper School spent a day at the Defence College of Technical Training's two schools in Gosport, which are the Royal Naval Air Engineering and Survival Equipment School (RNAESS) and the Defence School of Marine Engineering (DSMarE).

After taking a tour of the establishment's facilities which was organised by the Jon Egging Trust, they got involved with a number of hands-on tasks, which also included boarding a life raft, as well as taking part in leadership tasks.

They also took the opportunity to chat to trainees at HMS Sultan about their experience of working on the Royal Navy's latest helicopters, ships, and submarines.

Jane Edwards, pastoral manager at Ferndown Upper, said: “The visit was amazing. I think that it was very inspirational for young people who don’t have high aspirations about their future careers.

"It gives them a really good insight as to what’s out there especially within the military."

Pupil, Kimberley Mackenzie, 14, said: “I was a little bit nervous about going but it was quite fun. It was really good to get our hands on things and learn how to do things for ourselves. I didn’t think that they would actually let us take things apart. The people that I met were really nice, friendly and encouraging."

The Jon Egging Trust was established in memory of Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging, who lost his life whilst completing an air display with the Red Arrows at the Bournemouth Air Festival in 2011. The Trust provides teamwork, leadership, and work experience opportunities to young people.

Kaye Jackson, the Trust's Youth Liaison Officer, who accompanied the children on the visit, said: “I think the kids had a really good day.

“Some of them overcame their fears when we did the trust exercise and some of them never thought that they would do that as they were disjointed as a group.

“Bringing them together in that kind of environment was really good and they really enjoyed it. We are very grateful to HMS Sultan for giving us the opportunity."