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.

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!

Company Section walk 10 miles

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!

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.