The Army Cadet Force is a voluntary youth organisation providing challenging physical and mental activities. It began 140 years ago and its aim today is to inspire young people to achieve success in life with a spirit of service to Queen and country and to the local community as well as instilling in them the qualities of a good citizen. The age range has varied from time to time, always concentrating on the teenage years, but today recruitment is open to applicants aged from 12-18.

The ACF has been described as a national youth movement sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the army to enable young people develop their full potential by offering the discipline, military training and sport to be found in most regular regiments, together with adventure courses and expeditions specially designed for their age group.

But volunteers do not have to commit themselves to joining the army when they enrol in the ACF although if they do wish to sign on when they reach the required age of 17½, then they will have a head start on other recruits. The ACF currently offers youth, both boys and girls, the chance to have some fun, to do something different, to make new friends, learn new skills, learn how to accept responsibility, learn leadership, teamwork, confidence, loyalty and self-reliance and by testing themselves to the limit, experience a sense of achievement. They are also taught drill, turnout, skill at arms, shooting, the use of maps and compass, field craft, first aid and physical training and there are also many opportunities for adventurous activities such as canoeing, abseiling, rock climbing, mountaineering and orienteering.

More than 50,000 youngsters are currently in training with detachments throughout the United Kingdom, four of them in Lincolnshire and one of them has a representation in Bourne. All instructors have been specially trained and units have their own doctors, padres and chefs.

Cadets are required to pay a subscription of 50p a week while a weekend camp will cost around £5, which includes food, transport and accommodation and an eight-day annual camp is £25. Uniforms are provided free but cadets have to buy their own boots.

The first Army Cadet Force for Bourne was raised during the Second World War of 1939-45 under Lieutenant Colonel Horace Stanton, who also commanded the local battalion of the Home Guard. It was a thriving unit which met at the Vestry Hall in North Street, then the town's drill hall, but soon expanded sufficiently to justify its own premises that were opened in Manor Lane in 1952.

The wooden building was fitted out with money from various fund raising projects such as the fete which was held in the grounds of Colonel Stanton's home at No 20 North Road on Saturday 24th July 1954 when £150 was collected to pay for furnishings and sports equipment. The Sleaford ACF band paraded through the town before the fete was declared open by Lieutenant Colonel H Rigall, chairman of the County Cadet Committee, who told the gathering that the War Office had sanctioned the erection of the building and it was among the best in Lincolnshire. He went on: "The main objective of the cadet force is to turn a boy into a good citizen by giving him mental, moral and physical training. This provides them with a better chance of promotion and success in the regular services." He also appealed to serving cadets to bring along their brothers and friends to join the force and he urged parents to help the organisers in every way their could.

However, the retirement of Colonel Stanton, who was also deputy commandant for the county of Lincolnshire, was a blow to the unit and as a result of his departure, coupled with a shortage of officers, support dwindled and eventually the detachment was disbanded.

Interest was revived in 1962 due entirely to the efforts of one man, Major Kenneth Sindall, of Stamford. He re-launched the Bourne detachment in January of that year with a ceremony at the ACF headquarters attended by Colonel Sir Hugh Cholmeley, DSO, chairman of the Lincolnshire Territorial Association, who formally declared the headquarters open again. Also at the opening was the Vicar of Bourne, Canon H P Laurence, who was a padre with the Lincolnshire Regiment during the Second World War, Dr John Galletly, chairman of Bourne Urban District Council, and police inspector Leslie Ferriby.

Sir Hugh told the gathering: "Bourne should be proud of its link with the Army Cadet Force which began during the middle years of the war and played its part in the training and sport of the movement throughout the county. I feel there is still a good potential in the town to repeat that past success but it is important to get energetic and enthusiastic officers. Major Sindall is such a man, energetic and keen and who has served all over the world and I am sure he will bring the unit back and justify the reopening of the unit's headquarters. I hope that the people of Bourne, and particularly parents, will give him every support because the Army Cadet Force is one of the most valuable youth movements that exists today. It teaches leadership, comradeship and initiative to our young men at the impressionable age of 14 to 18. It is character forming and there has to be discipline but that has done no one any harm but those who join will learn with fun as well as discipline and it is possible for anyone with real promise to represent their county or command in various competitions all over the country."

The ACF headquarters were open every Tuesday and Thursday night between 7.30 pm and 9.30 pm to enable youngsters join.

The Manor Lane building disappeared during development of the area during the 1970s and cadets now meet at a tiny green prefabricated hut in the Austerby, sited on the route of the old railway line that crossed the road at this point.