On Saturday, Dame Cindy hosted the 50th reunion of the Sir Denis Blundell Police Cadet Wing at Government House Wellington. The class of 1976 was the first to receive vice regal patronage and the first to graduate from Government House.
The Sir Denis Blundell cadet wing was also the first to undertake 12 months of training, whereas previous courses had been 18 months. Those who were under the age of nineteen at the time of graduation would be posted as cadets to continue their training in the field.
Dame Cindy quoted from the graduation programme from 1976 where Sir Denis noted: ‘for the proper discharge of your duties, there is required of each of you such qualities as compassion, understanding and a sense of fair-play to go hand in hand with the need for firmness and fearlessness when these are required’.
