BB goes Dotty for Pudsey!!
23rd Nov 2011 by Robert Batty
Members of the Halifax Boys' Brigade have been going dotty for Pudsey. Boys from the 12th Halifax BB at New Hope URC and the 18th Halifax BB at Boothtown Methodist Church boys of all ages have been doing things to for Children in Need.
Ben Fawkes from New Hope said our lads had a great night on Monday, one of the best this year! The younger boys in the Anchors coloured in some pictures of Pudsey while the older boys designed some trendy outfits for him. It's good to see the boys have a good time at Brigade because it means that we are doing something right!' The boys at Boothtown Boys' Brigade were busy decorating biscuits all night. Company Captain Andrew Mitchell said 'it's nice for the boys to do something that makes them think about other people. No matter how old they are they all realise what Children in Need is all about - helping others that are less fortunate than themselves'.
The Boothtown Boys' Brigade donated their weekly subs to Children in need which came to £40. Robert Batty said 'it's not a great deal of money - but every little helps and that's what people need to remember'.
Boothtown Boys' Brigade Bacon Brunch Raised £300!!
22nd Nov 2011 by Robert Batty
The lads of the 18th Halifax Boys' Brigade held a Bacon Brunch on Saturday 12th November at Boothtown Methodist Church. The £300 will go towards the Halifax Boys' Brigade's appeal which for the 2011 / 2012 session is the Overgate Hospice.
Each year the Boys' Brigade picks a charity to hold an appeal and in October the Halifax BB announced that it would be supporting the Overgate Hospice for the next 12 months. Each of the 12 different BB Companies are hard at work planning fundraising events and activities to raise awareness of what the Overgate Hospice actually does from day to day. The next event in the Boys' Brigade fundraising calendar is the Quiz Night being held on 26th November at New Hope URC.
Tickets and information for this event can be found at the Halifax Boys' Brigade website - www.halifaxbb.co.uk
BB Boys Take on Boothtown Challenge
21st Nov 2011 by Boothtown Boys' Brigade
4 young members of the Boothtown Boys' Brigade recently took part in the Boothtown Challenge Event - Sausage and Samosa Night. The event was the start of a series of consultation events to decide what the Community of Boothtown should spend £50,000 on that would benefit the local area.
The Boys' Brigade were asked to help set up the Church on the night and also they were invited to give a young persons opinion of what they feel the money should be spent on.
Company Captain Andrew Mitchell also took part in the event and said 'it's great to be able to help out at events like these. We have a really good set of lads at the moment who will turn out when asked - especially if there's food involved!'
Boys carry on 125 year old Tradition
6th Nov 2011 by Robert Batty
18 members of the 18th Halifax Boys' Brigade aged between 8 and 18 went on another adventure to Scarborough on their Autumn Camp. Nationally this year has seen the Boys' Brigade celebrate 125 years of camping in the BB and as part of these celebrations the boys set out on a special camp. Although the boys didn't stay under canvas the boys still had a big adventure going on a mid night walk, travelling down to Bridlington on the Saturday and going to the Bayside Fun Park, and then to Whitby on Saturday night to go on the Ghost Walk. The boys set out on Friday 14th October and returned home on Sunday 16th October and were all ready for a well earned rest. As usual the lads were late to bed after playing a few hours of monopoly, and a few other games. Alex Brownridge who is in charge of the Company and Senior sections at Boothtown said 'camping is a great activity for the lads, they love being away from home and it's a big opportunity for the Officers to get to know the lads better'. The 18th Halifax BB won't be going camping for a while yet but they have a lot of other exciting activities planned out for the year. They meet at Boothtown Methodist Church on Wednesday nights for boys in Primary Schools and on a Thursday evening for those in Secondary Schools. Robert Batty added 'In 2012 it will be the companies Birthday and we are planning a big celebratory camp for this special occasion and we're really keen on encouraging some new members to come along and join in'.
Half Term Recruitment
14th Oct 2011 by Nev Keating
How did you spend the May half term? For many companies this is a time to take a quick break before the last part of the session. Not so for the officers and boys from the 1st Wallingford Company.
The company took the opportunity to throw open its doors and welcome young people from the local school. 30 young people in 2 groups spent a two and a half hour session doing BB activities, including painting a giant picture, making fridge magnets, space hopper and sack racing, David and Goliath and an attempt at the Boys' Brigade Orienteering course.
The day was held in the school grounds and funded by the local Council as part of their Positive Activities Programme. The Council even paid for some new equipment to be used on the day.
Three days later members of the public were challenged to attempt the BB Orienteering course, about 50 local people took up the challenge. A prize was awarded to the person who completed the course in the fastest time. The prize went to Callum a member of the local Scout group who sprinted round the course in just 29 minutes (the average time taken was an hour and a half). Callum who is a regular Orienteer was asked to rate the course and stated �Its better than the Scout course at Youlbury (Oxford) as the although the course is flat and open the controls are smaller and better placed.
Boys' Brigade Loves Good Neighbours!
28th May 2011 by Robert Batty
6 members of the Halifax Boys' Brigade attended the Calderdale Neighbours Day at the Piece Hall in Halifax. Neighbours Day is all about the local groups and organisations that provide activities throughout Calderdale and it was the first time that the Boys' Brigade has been able to attend.
The stall was used to attract new members to BB with the Battalions latest recruitment video blasting out and there were many leaflets handed out to the lads that were passing through the piece hall. It was later reported that over 13 thousand people attended the event.
John Crabtree said that "it was worth being out in the wind, fingers crossed we will have worked our magic and helped to attract some new members into the Boys' Brigade".
Robert Batty added, "it was good to have ex members of all ages come up to us and talk about what they got out of Boys' Brigade. We had a little guessing game going on to see how long it was before they told us a story about one of their camps, it was almost the second thing they said every time!"
The team already have plans for the next event. One of them was a new form of leaflet - paper aeroplane style you heard it here first!
Halifax BB
Boys Brigade Fire Service
28th May 2011 by Nev Keating
On the 18th May all them members of the 1st Wallingford Company attended the Wallingford Fire Station for a joint evening of activities with the Fire service. Boys got to sit in and get their hands on all the equipment carried by the appliance. They had explained to them the work of the Fire and Rescue service and were show old fire fighting equipment from days gone by. After the boys were tested on their knowllede before being treated to seeing the fire fighters roll out some hoses and perform some drills.
The fire service manager presented 3 boys with awards and the fire fighters prayer was said as part of the opening devotions.
BB Officers Run in Memory
21st Nov 2011 by Robert Batty
During 2011 Halifax Boys' Brigade Battalion have been raising money for Candlelighters who are the chosen appeal charity for the current session.
Sadly Jonny Bramley who was a member of the 12th Halifax Boys' Brigade Company lost his life through Cancer. Jonny had been a member at Boys' Brigade for a number of years and was a great example to the other lads in BB of what it means to be a member of the Boys' Brigade.
Even when faced with his illness Jonny would still turn out for his football team on a Saturday afternoon and get his lads laughing with his sense of humour. He was never defeated.
Dave Fox and Robert Batty are running the Manchester 10K on 15th May 2011 to raise funds for the appeal and are asking for people to support them by donating some money.
All the money will go towards Candlelighters who were responsible for the care that Jonny received throughout his illness
18th Halifax BB Mark 125 Years of Camping
13th May 2011 by Robert Batty
7 lads aged between 7 and 11, along with 5 staff travelled to The Mill Activity Centre at Glasshouses in North Yorkshire over the May Day weekend.
For some it was their first ever trip away from their parents, for others it will be their 6th and final Junior Section Camp. This year the camp was made more accessible for the participants by financial support from the Henry Smith Charity.
On the Friday night the lads arrived and unpacked their bags and set off on a walk up the river where they managed to see rabbits, black birds, bats and a number of pheasants. One lad said he saw a fox!
Saturday morning arrived after a good nights sleep and the lads went to the local Theme Park near Ripon to Lightwater Valley.
Lightwater Valley is a good theme park to take Lads of all ages and they really did enjoy running round getting on as many rides as they could.
Sunday morning saw the Company Captain give devotions before the lads made their way to Ripon to have a go at the town trail. The lads really enjoyed it running round looking for the answers to the questions and seeing different parts of Ripon that they would have other wise not come across.
After this it was time for a quick picnic and then a whistle stop tour of the three museums around the town. The lads really enjoyed the Police station where they saw what it used to be like to be a criminal back in the past.
Sunday evening the lads went on their Third walk along side the river. This time the lads tried to walk along side the Dam but there were too many midges for the Officers to handle so after spotting a birds nest along side the Dam with some eggs in the lads made their way along the far side of the river and this time were able to spot some fish feeding on the flies that were hovering above the water.
Monday saw the lads travel up to Stump Cross Caverns where the lads worked their way along the cavern system and experience the cold temperatures of the underground while the taller Officers realised why it was important that they wore a helmet.
After another picnic the mini bus made its way back down to Halifax where the lads parents were waiting to take them home and the Officers went home for a well deserved sleep before returning to work on Tuesday morning.
Vote YES for BB in Tewkesbury
17th Oct 2011 by Andrew Baldwin
In 1991 the 1st Tewkesbury Company managed to lease a former Youth Club building that had been closed for a number of years and was falling into disrepair. Over the next 15 years, lots of money was raised and a complete refurbishment and upgrade of the building was completed. In 2004 the building was under threat of being sold off for housing and our future there was unsure but both BB and the local community fought hard against this. The threat was finally lifted because of the devastating floods of 2007 which flooded much of the town and many buildings. Unfortunately our building was flooded as well and has been closed ever since, while we pestered the Council to get the repairs done, then offered to buy it. Even after finally getting their agreement it sell, it took another 2 years of negotiations before the sale was completed in February this year. We now have the mammoth task of raising £50,00 to bring the building back into use and would like to ask for your support in voting for us at the "Join the Revolution" page http://www.co-operative.coop/join-the-revolution/boys-brigade-community-centre/
Thank you in advance for your support
Andrew Baldwin Captain
