Last Sunday was the last Uniformed Family Service of this session and we had something special to share. Three of our young men have attained their President’s Badge, the culmination of 4 years of work through the Company Section and the second highest award in the Boys’ Brigade.
Congratulations to Cameron, Lewis and Nathan!
On the way to gaining this award they;
• gained their Compass and Discover Awards,
• created web pages for 1st Bletchley’s web-site,
• organised two Car Wash fund-raisers,
• ran the Company Section Christmas party twice,
• were promoted to L-Cpl,
• helped run activities in Anchors or Juniors.
As part of our reward system in Junior Section the boys receive a small treat at the end of the evening if they have kept all their stickers in place throughout the evening. Bad behaviour means losing a sticker… well you get the idea.
This year the boys were challenged at the start of lent to forego their treats during the following weeks. The Company would then donate a nominal sum to a charity based on the number of boys and weeks in lent. I’m pleased to say that given the choice the boys voted to take on the challenge and of course maintain good behaviour throughout.
Easter has come and gone and I’m very pleased to say that the boys did exceedingly well and raised £48 through their lenten fast.
Following last year’s Mars rovers, our Lego Engineers have produced a more ambitious Mars Habitat. The main building (Sims style) has sleeping and work rooms, air and water recycling plant and a small greenhouse with vegetable garden and hydroponics tanks.
The ancillary structures include a solar panel array and power cell recharging bay, robot accessed stores bunker (like EDNA on CSI:NY) and a water drill. There is even a small sample return rocket with launch tower, just in case some evidence of simple life is discovered. We couldn’t resist constructing a utility vehicle to help the astronauts get around in.
I don’t have to tell you that Christmas is looming, along with the end of term. As we head into the Christmas break I’d like to share a number things with you for the new year. Firstly, when we start again! This will be Tuesday 10th January, 2012 (Amicus will make their own arrangements).
Family Services
We’ve already had the first of the new format Family Services and I want to remind you of the dates for the coming year; 15th January, 25th March, 6th May. Please don’t forget that these services are intended to be family oriented, shorter and finish with an invitation to lunch. January’s service will finish with a winter barbeque! So please put the dates in your diaries and bring the whole family along.
Half Terms
There appears to be some confusion with half terms and when we do or don’t meet. The problem seems to be rooted in the changes at the Premier Academy. Please find below the Tuesdays in 2012 when we will not be meeting.
14th February – Half Term
3rd & 10th April – Easter
5th June – Half Term
So with all of the information imparted, it just leaves me to wish you all a peaceful and blessed Christmas!
A small portion of the board. We decided to keep the four railway stations – Milton Keynes Central, Bletchley, Wolverton and Fenny Stratford – but replaced the Water and Electricity squares with “The Point” and “Xscape”. Rather than use street names, we chose local areas in Milton Keynes. There are over 100 of these, so apologies if the 22 selected didn’t include yours.
Last Saturday saw the 1st Bletchley join forces with our sister Girls’ Brigade company to put on a combined awards and talent show. With the theme for the evening being talent we appreciated the many skills of our members both in performance and the recognition of their efforts in gaining awards throughout the last session.
I was pleased to be able to award a number of service badges that can only be earnt by attandance both on a Sunday and parade night. The girls’ awards were presented by the Milton Keynes GB District Commissioner, Rachel Allen. Joining her as guest of honour was our very own Bill Bond.
There was some sneakiness going on before the event. Let me explain. Bill has now retired from work and has decided to retire from Boys’ Brigade. OK, you say, very nice. Nice doesn’t begin to describe the contribution Bill has made to our company since joining as a boy (I’ll leave you to do the arithermatic). He has been captain twice in our company’s history and touched the lives of many. Thanks to the sneakiness many of them attended the evening to catch up on old times during the post show BBQ. Bill was presented with a special silver version of the campers badge that he had as a boy and, in part, recognises his contribution to MK Summer Camp, but then that’s another story.
My apologies for the lack of photographs from the BBQ, Circus Skills, face painting, crafts and XBox games, we were just too busy enjoying ourselves !
Whilst our older members attend MK Camp during the summer holidays our younger members had the opportunity to attend the Battalion Camp held at BBHQ in Feldon in July. Did you know that this year is a celebration of 125 years of BB camping?
Whilst at the camp the battalion held a number of battalion competitions to close out the session. Congratulations to out members as they came back with not one, but two trophies!
The Anchor Boys won the potted sports competition.
In Milton Keynes we’re lucky to have a fixed orienteering course spread out through a number of local parks. Last night the Juniors (some pictured below) attempted a small course in Campbell Park.
