The Boys’ Brigade

The Boys’ Brigade

The Boys’ Brigade is an international organisation founded in Glasgow by William Alexander Smith.  Its objective is “the advancement of Christ’s kingdom among boys and the promotion of habits of obedience, reverence, discipline, self-respect and all that tends towards a true Christian manliness”.

The Boys’ Brigade is Britain’s largest Christian uniformed youth organisation.  It has over half-a-million members world-wide.

The South Woodham Ferrers Company was founded in 1974 and has the same object as the original Glasgow Company. Like all BB companies, the 1st South Woodham Ferrers is part of a church, in our case, South Woodham Evangelical Church.  Some of the highlights in the Company’s life to date have been our first President’s award, the first to a blind BB member in England, raising the funds to send a young man to help BB in South Africa, having boys selected to attend a royal event and seeing young men achieve beyond their expectation.

We run various programmes for different age groups:

Anchors: Age 5-8 (school years 1 – 3), Tuesday, 5pm – 6.15pm

Games, crafts and stories, along with their badge work make up a fun evening in a Christian environment.
This age group has its own programme based on six areas: Get Active, Get Adventurous, Get Into The Bible, Get Creative, Get Involved and Get Learning. Cooking is always popular with the boys as they see instant results!  Planting sunflower or runner beans, while equally unpredictable, is an activity enjoyed regularly.

Weekly subscriptions: £1.50

Juniors: Age 8-11 (school years 4 – 6), Tuesday, 6.30pm – 8.00pm

Like the Anchors’ awards, the Junior badge work programme is divided into six areas. Boys take part in practical activities such as cookery and puppet making, adventure evenings, walking or tracking and learning “homehelp” skills such as cleaning shoes and table laying. The culmination of the award work is the presentation of the Gold Badge.

Games form an important part of the group’s evening, ranging from team games such as handball and simple relays to spot the difference and word puzzles.

Section holiday / camp is often included in the programme.

Weekly subscriptions: £1.50

Company Section: Age 11-14 (school years 7 – 9), Friday, 7.00pm – 9.00pm

Community, recreation and skills, along with Leadership, make up the Company Section programme which is tailored to a young man’s interests.  Photography, model-making, cookery, expedition work and map making have all been undertaken in recent years.

All boys learn First-Aid as well as taking part in drill and physical activities. Boys take part in activities outside normal meeting times, for example, camping and expedition training.

Weekly subscription: £1.50

Seniors: Age: 15-18 (school years 10 – 13), Friday, 7.00pm – 9.45pm

Depending on numbers, this group is either integrated with the Company Section or meets separately.  Award work includes the BB President’s and Queen’s Badges along with The Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Life skills are an important part of this section’s activities, with subjects such as catering on a budget, DIY skills and personal finance included.

Weekly Subscription: £1.50

For further information about the 1st South Woodham Ferrers Boys’ Brigade Company, you can contact the church, email us at southwoodhambb@btinternet.com, or contact Martin Holden on 01245 328673.

More information about The Boys’ Brigade can be found on their national website: www.boys-brigade.org.uk