Following the sad news, the funeral of Marion Meaden will take place at Spurgeon Baptist Church, Water Eaton Church Centre, Drayton Road, Bletchley, on Monday 8th April at 1.45pm. This will be followed by a committal at Crownhill for the family.
After the service, refreshments will be served at the church centre. It is the wish of the family that they return to the hubbub of the church that Marion was a faithful member of for so many years.
The service will be streamed, if you would like to attend online. Details to follow.
It is with great sadness that we need to share that Marion Meaden was ‘called home’ in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Marion, or Mrs. M as she was affectionately known, was Captain of our Girls’ Brigade Company for many years. Even after retiring from GB, she continued to have an active interest in our young people’s work at the Boys’ Brigade and Girls’ Association. She will be dearly missed, but not forgotten by those who knew her, even as ‘maker of squash’ on a Tuesday evening.
Our sections held a number of Christmas celebrations for our last session before the Christmas break. Everyone was involved in the singing of carols, including Silent Night and Away in a Manger.
The Juniors played some Christmas games, such as the ‘dressing up chocolate game’ and the ‘eating chocolate off your face without using your hands’ (see the images below)!
Meanwhile, the Company Section prepared some egg-filled oranges, which were then cooked in the fire. There was a mixed verdict on how they tasted, but everyone ultimately enjoyed the process of hollowing out the oranges and cooking them in the fire.
We finished off the evening with hot chocolate, with a touch of orange and one last carol.
Trying to eat the chocolate without using any hands!
Trying to eat the chocolate without using any hands!
The egg-filled oranges are placed in the fire
Preparing the fire…
Preparing the fire…
A festive church building to match the festive activities happening inside
We wish all our members & their families a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! May we all experience the joy and peace of Christ’s birth. We look forward to welcoming our members from all our sections back to our first session on Tuesday 9th January.
October 2023 sees the Boys’ Brigade celebrate its 140th Anniversary. To celebrate BB HQ promoted a number of events and activities for BB Companies to get involved with.
Here at 1st Bletchley, we decided to run events and activities for all of our sections to celebrate. Here’s a brief summary of what each section got up to!
Anchor Section
The Anchor Section were tasked to be creative with the number 140… what a coincidence!
Junior Section
Juniors across the country held a sleepover on the evening of Saturday 7th October 2023, even from as far as South Africa! At our sleepover, we had pizza, a quiz, online magic tricks on a massive Zoom meeting with other Juniors from across the country, s’mores, Baby Groot and sleeping bag prayers… all before bedtime! In the morning we had some bacon ‘n’ sausage baps to see us off.
Let the celebrations begin!
Pizza for dinner
Roasting marshmallows
S’mores!
Waking up to bacon & sausage baps…
Company Section
Our Company Section participated in the nationwide Monopoly Challenge, which was run across multiple locations in England and Scotland. Based on the Monopoly Board, we were tasked with the challenge of visiting as many properties as possible in London, as well as completing some photo challenges. Partly down to careful planning and partly down to luck, we managed to visit lots of different locations, eventually being placed 8th our of all the other teams!
Piccadilly Circus
The Ritz Hotel… one of the properties!
The classic telephone box – on the list of ‘photo challenges’
Another photo challenge where we needed to ‘walk on water’!
One last location en route to the finish…
… and done! Our completed list of properties and photo challenges
On 22nd July, three members of the Company Section braved the British summer weather and completed a 10 mile walk from Newton Longville to outside-Winslow. With supervision, the group were able to navigate the route set out by staff member Gary with only a map and a compass.
Starting at around 9am, we set off from Newton Longville, just outside Milton Keynes. Dark clouds were already looming, but apart from a light drizzle, the rain held off. However, once we reached Swanbourne for a well-earned lunch, the heavens opened and the rain continued for the rest of the afternoon. Nevertheless, spirits were kept up with a stop at the chippy in Winslow. Eventually, we arrived at the National Grid substation, outside Winslow, absolutely soaked-through (and cold!) We were encouraged by the determination and grit which members had shown to complete the 10 miles, in spite of the elements.
… convey my congratulations to the three that endured it, and to let them know they are easily as capable & determined as any Scouts that I’ve worked with over the years, which is no mean feat – particularly with the level of experience and ‘miles’ that they have.
Gary. Ex Scout Leader
Well done to Magdala, Junior and Sofia, who have now earnt their Level 2 Navigation Staged Award! Thanks also to Gary for planning the route and supervising the group with their map-reading.
We hope that the next walk will take place in sunnier and warmer conditions!
Walking outside Mursley, and still dry!
Map-reading
Sheep-spotting
Lunch-stop in Swanbourne
Through the fields…
Through the fields…
Battling the rain
Battling the rain
Lots of styles to climb (as demonstrated here by the Captain)
To celebrate the end of another fun and busy year at the 1st Bletchley Company, we held our customary end-of-year BBQ, which would usually happen in the Galilee Gardens round the back of the church. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans with the heavens opening at exactly 6pm. This meant switching to plan B, with the BBQ taking place under a gazebo and everyone gathered in the Assembly Room and Youth Hall. Nevertheless, everyone remained in good spirits and there was plenty to do inside to keep the younger sections occupied. Over 80 burgers were handed out in total, which was only possible due to all our volunteers who kindly helped with the preparation.
Towards the end of the evening, we held our Awards Presentation to celebrate members’ achievements from across the different sections. Notable achievements included recipients of the ‘Volunteer Staged Award’ and one of our Seniors being promoted to Sergeant. The winners of this year’s ‘Inspection Hall of Fame’ from the Junior and Company sections were also announced, which can be viewed here.
We also said farewell and a big ‘thank you’ to Lynda, who is stepping back after helping to lead the Anchor Section for a dedicated 14 years. The evening ended with a rendition of the BB Vesper and a prayer. We wish all our members an enjoyable summer and look forward to seeing them back in September.
If you are interested in your child joining us for the new year or would like to volunteer (helpers are always needed!), feel free to contact us.
Check out our Hall of Fame for the annual uniform inspection competition. This has, for many years, only been for the Junior Section. As of this year we are adding the Best Squad for the Company Section.
Who will be the inaugural winners of the Best Squad for 2022/23? Who will win the Junior Section award?
The winners will be revealed at our BBQ and Awards Evening, this Tuesday.
