About Us
Who are we?
1st Woodley Boys’ Brigade is a uniformed youth organisation for boys aged 5 to 18 years. We have been around since 1974, providing an exciting and varied programme of activities for four age groups.
Our programme provides exciting challenges and opportunities, according to age group, enabling boys to have fun and to develop new skills at the same time. Activities, meeting times and uniform changes from section to section. Older boys receive leadership training and take an active part in running activities.
The local BB group, known as a Company, is part of a wider national organisation, with over 20,000 members in around 750 Companies. Leaders are volunteers from all walks of life, and are carefully selected, screened (Child Protection) and trained for their role; over 7,000 of them give their time and talents freely.
The BB has changed with the times since its origin in Scotland in 1883, but without abandoning its original principles. Each company is attached to a local church and boys are encouraged to participate in the life and worship of the host church, or another nearby. 1st Woodley is part of the youth outreach of Christ Church.
When and where do we meet?
1st Woodley Boys’ Brigade meets at Christ Church Woodley on Crockhamwell Road – just down the hill from Waitrose Car Park. This is easy to find and has plenty of parking space, plus facilities for the less-abled.
We meet on Wednesday evenings, during school term time at the following times:
- Anchors (Years 1-3) – 6pm-7.15pm
- Junior Section (Years 4-6) – 6.30pm-8pm
- Company Section (Years 7-9) – 7pm-9pm
- Senior Section (Years 10-13) – 7pm-9pm
Our Object
The Object of The Boys’ Brigade is:
“The advancement of Christ’s kingdom among Boys and the promotion of habits of Obedience, Reverence, Discipline, Self-respect and all that tends towards a true Christian manliness.”
Our Motto
The Boys’ Brigade’s Motto is:
‘Sure & Steadfast’
The motto is taken from the Bible, the Book of Hebrews, Chapter 6, Verse 19.
Our Patron
The Patron of The Boys’ Brigade is His Majesty King Charles III.
What do we do?
We provide a programme of activities across four age groups for children and young people aged from 5 to 18 years. Each of the programmes provide fun and exciting activities with opportunities for children and young people to be recognised for their participation and achievement through awards.
At this age we seek to build firm foundations, establish a group identity and nurture responsibility. They do lots of different activities which include crafts, music, games, sports, making friends, prayer, and Bible stories. The Anchors programme is organised into six programme zones of Get Active, Get Into the Bible, Get Creative, Get Learning, Get Adventurous and Get Involved, through which the children have the opportunity to gain awards.
Their fun-packed evenings are full of challenges, games and activities, usually ones that they have suggested themselves. We cater for just about every possible interest and at the same time support them to look beyond themselves. The Juniors programme is organised into six programme zones of Get Active, Get Into the Bible, Get Creative, Get Learning, Get Adventurous and Get Involved, through which the children have the opportunity to gain awards.
It’s all about young people learning new skills, making their own decisions and then achieving their personal goals. The Company programme is organised into six programme zones of Get Active, Get Into the Bible, Get Creative, Get Learning, Get Adventurous and Get Involved, through which the young people have the opportunity to gain awards. Young people can get involved in anything from helping others in their local community to playing sports, trying out adventure activities or being creative through dance or art – there’s something for everyone! There are also opportunities to go away on camps and residentials, which are often the highlights in the annual programme. Young people may also get involved in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
Moving on from the Company age group, it’s all about young people planning and delivering their own programme. A wide range of topics focus on building life skills, encouraging recreation and leisure pursuits and being an active citizen with the programme split into projects and challenges allowing young people to dip in and out as time allows. Each year young people can gain awards based on their participation in the programme. In addition to this young people can start out or continue their journey through the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and also gain the President’s Badge before going on to the highest award in The Boys’ Brigade, the King’s Badge.