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THE GATHERING PASSION. HOPE. ENTHUSIASM. Just a few words which approach a description of the atmosphere that infused Carronvale House over the weekend of 14 th /15 th October 2006. But these three words only begin to capture it; a fourth completes it: excitement. The occasion was the first meeting of the thirteen-strong group of young men, comprising current and former KGVI cadets and former Seniors, driving forward ‘The Gathering’, an event at Carronvale on Saturday 24 th February 2007 designed by young people to progress Aim 5 of our current Development Plan: ‘To promote the participation and empowerment of young people by developing the decision making infrastructure of The BB’. Presented with a blank canvas and motivated by this single purpose, over the weekend The Gathering grew from a date pencilled in a diary to an ambitious, aspirational and, crucially, achievable event. And this by individuals who had not known each other as they walked in the door on Saturday morning. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before a team emerged that fully embraced the possibilities The Gathering holds for The Boys’ Brigade. The weekend began, following a short period spent focused on the planning weekend’s purpose with team-building activities, albeit with a twist. These kick-started the process of critical thinking needed for the task ahead. Crucially, they also identified and celebrated the gifts and achievements of the assembled team offering reassurance that the ensemble were precisely those people equipped to achieve that task. Next, a humorous exercise honed the team’s skills in selling items they were asked to bring to the weekend that were precious to them. This done in the hope that The Gathering once devised would be similarly precious making much simpler the task of selling it to the seniors and young Officers from Battalions across Scotland who would attend. After lunch The Gathering was committed into God’s hands through prayer; that His will would be reflected in the group’s vision and refracted through their actions. The hard work of designing the programme then began. A fairly relaxed day proved incredibly productive and by the Sunday morning the programme of an event that promises to be filled with fellowship and packed with purposeful discussion about the movement’s future had materialised. But this was only the start. Skills developed the day before selling items as obscure as pillows, iPods and cuddly monkeys were used to begin planning the publicity for the event. Each of the planning group members tasked themselves with securing support for the event by making personal representation to their local Battalions, encouraging others to attend, air their views and start shaping the movement to mirror their vision. At first sight this seems a difficult task. But I for one am confident that if the atmosphere of the weekend spreads out from Carronvale as they gather in the event’s participants the House will easily be filled with 150 seniors and young men each with the same passion for their movement, a similar hope for its future, and an enthusiasm to share their vision. Together, fully embracing the possibilities enshrined in a single sentence in a Development Plan that unlocks their potential to shape their movement, they can begin mapping the road ahead. THE GATHERING SATURDAY 24 TH FEBRUARY 2007. EXCITED? FINDING YOUR WAY TO THE GATHERING… The thirteen young men planning this event will be attending events in your local Battalion to deliver a presentation to tell you more about The Gathering (remember those finely tuned marketing skills…). In fact, by the time you read this they may have been and gone, moving elsewhere to fire up another group with their passion and enthusiasm for the event. If you’ve missed them, don’t worry. Further information can be found on a flyer that was sent out in December’s Company Mailing in Scotland and an electronic version is available on The BB Scotland website: http://scotland.boysbrigade.org.uk/. For more details, and to book places to attend The Gathering, simply return the slip on the reverse of that flyer or call Carronvale House on 01324 562008. Make sure your Boys find this flyer. Encourage them to find The Gathering. page 20 • VOLUME 115 No. 1 • January 2007
Scottish Cross Country Contact Carronvale 01324 562 008 for paper copies. Collage Competition Competition for Anchor Boys and Junior Sections– details on the BB Scotland website or paper copies are available from Carronvale. (This competition is not restricted to Scottish companies – any BB Company can enter.) Boys will use small pieces of magazines, paper, wool etc., to create a collage of the boys shown above in BB uniform. Closing date for entries 19th February 2007. The prizes for this competition have been sponsored by East Ayrshire Battalion. If your battalion would like to sponsor a competition (£60) please contact Carronvale. This year the cross country is being organised by Banffshire Battalion in Buckie on 10th March 2007. Scottish Bands Contest Concert Hall, Troon on Sat 31st March 2007 will be the place to bring your boys, either to take part or simply to enjoy listening to the music, provided by Company bands from all over Scotland. Details of how to enter your band are available on the BB Scotland website. Website for boys BB Scotland has launched a website BB4U aimed at boy members rather than leaders. Please encourage your boys to try it out at http://scotland.boysbrigade.org.uk We are looking for your boys to contribute their views, ideas and photos for the various pages indicated on the menu, which is shown above. Engage a Generation Churches in the Kirkcaldy area will be the pilot in Scotland, during January 2007 for the campaign ‘Engage a Generation’. The campaign will target churches who either have not experienced the Boys’ Brigade or have had Companies in the past. Or as Rabbie Burns might have said: “Some haed laddies but nou dinnae meet and some hae nane but want it, but we hae means tae help ye oot, so let the Lord be thankit” National Top Team Challenge The National Top Team Challenge is an activity for the Company Section and Seniors. It is based on a multitask concept where a large number of Companies across the country take part in the same tasks, albeit in their own church hall. The Top Team Challenge covers a wide range of tasks so that all Companies have a fair chance of doing well. A sample of activities is likely to include: Physical, General Knowledge, Logic, Bible knowledge, World Issues. Top Team is an ideal way of taking part in a national competition without needing to travel or incur any expenses. To take part your Company only needs to have four boys per team, and can enter multiple teams. The Challenge must be judged by an adult who is not an officer in the Company. Companies are free to choose when they carry out the Challenge within the months of January – March each year. It can form part of a Company Section programme or could be an activity for a separate evening. All entries for the Challenge have to be returned to BBUK Headquarters by 1st April. To enter you MUST request an entry pack for each team taking part from BBUK Headquarters. These will then be sent to you as sealed envelopes with full instructions. A response card has been sent to Company Captains. VOLUME 115 No. 1 • January 2007 • page 21
Page 1 and 2: The official quarterly journal of T
Page 3 and 4: Contents Special Features DofE 50th
Page 5 and 6: DOE 50 logo 1 st Uxbridge Company.
Page 7 and 8: COMPANY SUPPORT SCHEME “It works
Page 9 and 10: Brigade announcements Brigade annou
Page 11 and 12: Resources The programme will be pre
Page 13 and 14: From the West Anglia Battalion….
Page 15 and 16: Here and there Here and there Treas
Page 17 and 18: Queens Badge Review of 2005 - 2006
Page 19 and 20: Paisley & District Battalion Renfre
Page 21: 15th National 10-Pin Bowling Champi
Page 25 and 26: Global Fellowship Chapters from the
Page 27 and 28: The wider BB Family …at the Lord
Page 29 and 30: Brigade Council 2007 2007 is the tu
Page 32 and 33: Obituaries Obituaries Obituaries Ob
Page 34: Small ads Small ads Small ads Small

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