An adventurous evening!
On Friday much of the Junior Section assembled for a Night Hike from Swanbourne to Newton Longville, ably led by two of our seniors.
For their first serious walk, 7.2km, they did a remarkably good job, despite the variously muddy fields. They set and maintained a good steady pace, despite the conditions – perhaps that was the promise of chips from the chip shop in Newton Longville? Thanks to them … and sorry about the dirty floor!
Looking forward to our next sortie!
Over the summer, we’re pleased to be able to say that all of the paperwork went through and that the ‘new’ minister of Spurgeon Baptist Church, Rev Mung Hatzaw, is now formally the company Chaplain!
We’d already pressed him into service at our summer BBQ and awards evening (see photo below), but now he’s official.
What does a Chaplain do? Well, apart from the ‘official bits’ at Enrolment and Awards, the Chaplain’s main responsibilities are for the spiritual welfare of our members and staff. We may even have need of his musical abilities!
On the first weekend in October, from Saturday evening to Sunday morning, the Junior Section took part in the Juniors Big Sleepover 2024. Why is it so big, you may ask?
Well, many other company’s across the land participate at the same time, following similar activities, and briefly come together on a Zoom call!
We all made our own pizzas for tea before taking part in the Big Quiz and the Letters Game.
The event was popular with our young people, and they even managed the harder part of the evening – sleep! Well, by 23.30!!
Everyone was up early in the morning and pitched in to set up for breakfast – sausage and bacon rolls. Our last activity dealt with the subject of ‘Domino Kindness.’
A memorable weekend for sure!
Last month the Juniors were asked to help weed the car park at the Newton Longville Free Church.
What a job! I think we made a dent in things, but judge for yourselves – right of the red line looked like what you can see on the left!
They worked well as a team and after a burger lunch, 3 hours of work and a small thunderstorm, we were done – not with the carpark, but we’ve shown them how it’s done and perhaps someone else can do a bit more.
This amount of effort earnt our members their Get Involved project badge. Very well done, everyone!
Today the Juniors were asked to help weed the carpark at the Newton Longville Free Church.
What a job! I think we made a dent in things, but judge for yourselves – right of the red line looked like what you can see on the left!
They worked well as a team and after a burger lunch, 3 hours of work and a small thunderstorm, we were done – not with the carpark, but we’ve shown them how it’s done and perhaps someone else can do a bit more.
This amount of effort earnt our members their Get Involved project badge. Very well done, everyone!
It was a risky decision to hold our end-of-year BBQ outside given the torrential rain we had experienced in the last few days, but the gamble paid off as we enjoyed celebrating the achievements of our members at the end of the school year.
After enjoying our burgers and some time playing games outside, we headed into the church for the awards presentation, led by our Captain, Mark Churchill. The awards were handed out by Spurgeon’s new minister and soon-to-be company chaplain Mung Hatzaw. Awards were handed out in all three sections, Anchors, Juniors and Company. The Juniors were particularly keen to find out who had won the most points for uniform inspection across the year, and by extension who had made it onto the ‘Inspection Hall of Fame‘, which you can check out here. We also said farewell to our oldest BBGA member Magdala, as she received the Seniors Platinum Award and we wish her all the best as she goes off to university.
We pray for all our members and their families over the summer holidays, and that they will return well-rested and refreshed for our first session on 10th September.
If you’re interested in your child joining us in September or you would like to volunteer yourself, you can fill in our joining list or contact us.
This weekend a group of us from 1st Bletchley traveled down to the BBHQ at Felden Lodge to take part in Life 2 the Max, an activity day run by the BB London District. We have taken part in this event for a couple of years now, and the fun-filled experiences of the children we take always makes us want to return!
After taking the train from Bletchley down to Hemel Hempstead, we enjoyed a fantastic day of funfair rides, inflatables, games, shows and crafts. The pictures below will give you a taste of what the day was like, including a slow-mo video showing the perseverance of some of our Juniors during one of the inflatable games!
Tonight, the Juniors learnt how to make dens. This included learning how to find the right sticks, how to tie the right knots and how to secure the tarp. Once constructed, the quality of their dens was tested by throwing buckets of water over them (as shown in the videos below). Both dens managed to withstand the deluge!
Thanks to Gary for (literally) showing them the ropes!
Well, that was a great day! Taking the train from Bletchley to Tring, we then proceeded to walk a 8.5 mile circular route, taking in Ivinghoe Beacon and the Bridgewater Monument.
It was almost perfect walking conditions. In fact I’m surprised we didn’t bump into the Three Bears, it was just right.
Well done to our walkers from the Company Section, you handled the challenge admirably.
We are delighted to announce that HM King Charles III has become our new Patron and we join with other BB companies around the country who are celebrating the news.
The announcement confirms His Majesty as the fifth reigning monarch to become our Patron, following Queen Elizabeth II, King George VI, King Edward VIII and King George V, who was Patron when the 1st Bletchley Company was first formed in 1926.
Jonathan Eales, Chief Executive of The Boys’ Brigade nationally, commented: “Having already been a great supporter of our work and more widely of uniformed youth organisations, we are incredibly proud and honoured that The King is our new Patron.”
“The announcement confirms His Majesty as the fifth reigning monarch to become our Patron, following Queen Elizabeth II, King George VI, King Edward VIII and King George V.”
“Royal patronage provides publicity and recognition for what we do in communities across the country and the hard work and dedication of our volunteer leaders.”
We are very thankful for The King’s continued support for the work of BB and join with other companies around the UK to remember our new Patron in our prayers.
You can read more on the Boys’ Brigade website.
