1st Haddington Boys' Brigade Company

Our company of Boys' Brigade has unfortunately been disbanded and their colours laid up in the church.

The general aims of the Brigade are detailed below and for information about the Brigade within other parts of the country, the Boys' Brigade U.K. web site can be found here http://www.boys-brigade.org.uk/

The Object
"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."

Mission statement
The Boys' Brigade will care for and challenge young people for life through a programme of informal education underpinned by the Christian faith.

This will be achieved by:

	Delivering Christian teaching in partnership with the church in which the company is based and encouraging the development of a personal Christian faith.
	Providing opportunities for leadership, decision making and skills training.
	Empowering boys and young people by involving them in decision making at all levels of the organisation and giving responsibility appropriate to their age and aptitude.
	Raising awareness of boys and young people to the needs of others (especially other young people) locally, nationally and globally and encouraging them to engage in activities and projects in which they can make a difference.
	Being sensitive to the needs and aspirations of boys and young people of varying backgrounds, differing abilities and stages of development and providing appropriate support, advice and guidance.
	Ensuring the safety of boys and young people through the implementation of suitable procedures for the selection, training and supervision of leaders.
	Equipping leaders through the provision of high quality training and resources.
	Providing a network of professional staff to support voluntary leaders.
	Creating opportunities to develop partnerships with other appropriate organisations and agencies.

Anchor
The Anchor Boys’ Section Awards scheme incorporates activities from simple cooking to sewing on a button. Achievements in the Community section of the Award work revolves around craft work, quizzes in mind knowledge and current topics either in their own community, or looking at worldwide events in a manner which allows the individual boy to develop a sense community and be part of the group. In the Spiritual Section the boys cover lots of different bible stories events and have a lively, open fun time of worship.
The boys also enjoy sports and games as part of their award scheme.

Junior Section
The Junior Section is a natural progression from the Anchor Boys and is run along similar lines.
The Awards are similar in content but any boy can follow what path he chooses. The first level gained at Anchor Boy will be built upon as the boy increasingly gains in knowledge, confidence and understanding. Again the field trips and outings will be joint, but there will always be time for the individual to develop in his own way.

Company Section
The Company Section young men will have progressed through the Junior and Anchor Sections but this is not a hindrance to joining us up to the age of 18.
The awards start to get a bit tougher and have different levels within each award. It should be the ultimate aim of each young man to become a Queens Man and achieve the highest award offered by the Boys’ Brigade and gain the Queens Badge.

Our Company has had a number of Queens Men in past years who have gone on to become Chemical Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Builders Agents and Agricultural Engineers. Most of these Queens Men have taken further training and are now Officers in their own right.