Girls’ Brigade

At Girls’ Brigade we want to help our girls to grow in the knowledge of God. We want to enable them to recognise their individual God given talents and to move into adulthood with confidence and strength as they look to the Lord for guidance. Our hope is that they become strong women, seeing the importance of their role in using their talents at church, at school, at work and in the community; that they become channels for the transforming work of God.

Girls’ Brigade

It has been another exciting year for all of us in First Broughshane Girls’ Brigade! The 2017/18 session ended with our 43rd annual Prize Giving, where we gathered together with parents and our special guest, the Rev. Ronnie Agnew, to recognise and reward the girls for all their hard work throughout the previous G.B. session. We are so proud of the girls’ efforts in every area of badge-work, and appreciative of the dedication of our Officers, Sub-officers and helpers who have worked extremely hard to ensure that the girls enjoyed a rich and varied programme of activities. As Captain, Officers, Sub-officers and helpers, we approach the responsibilities of our roles within this company with passion and enthusiasm. It is hard work, but when we watch these girls in our care grow and develop from small children into wonderful young women, we really see the importance of the part we play in this. We are so grateful to parents, the wider families and the congregation for supporting us in all aspects of our work.

In so many ways you have helped us: from support with fundraising to participation in aspects of badge-work you have given up your time and resources so freely to help – thank you.

The focus of our display, and of the 2017/18 session, was Colossians 1 verse 10:

“So that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God”.

A final highlight of the 2017/18 session was our G.B. camp, held from 22nd – 24th June 2018 at Greenhill YMCA in Newcastle. The girls spent the weekend at the centre enjoying a range of activities, including team-building games, camp-fire cooking and bouldering. To finish our trip, we walked into Newcastle and enjoyed some fellowship, coffee and ice cream. On the final day of camp, thanks to our mini-bus driver Alan Reid, we enjoyed a visit to Newcastle Presbyterian Church where we received a warm welcome at their Sunday morning service. The girls had the opportunity to meet with and listen to a sermon by Rev. Charles McMullan, the current moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.

On Friday 7th September, Girls’ Brigade recommenced after the summer break. We had a number of new starts who we were delighted to welcome into Girls’ Brigade. This year we have almost 80 girls on our roll, and hope to continue to increase our numbers each year. We were again very lucky to have had Mrs Margaret Graham, Mrs Hazel Reid and Mrs Mary Stirling return to teach the company section scripture, and are so thankful for their time and commitment given to Girls’ Brigade.

Girls’ Brigade have hosted a number of fund-raising events throughout the year and we wish to thank parents for their help with these events, including G.B. week collections and donations towards all our fund-raising activities. Special thanks also to Mrs Dorothy Hayes for helping with the heating and running of the halls for us each Friday night. The badge-work for this year is nearly complete, and we look forward to our annual prize giving on Friday 29th March 2019.

With the support of Ronnie we are going from strength to strength, and we are truly thankful for all his support throughout the year. As always, we would like to extend one final “thank you” to everyone who has helped through the year: to the officers who are so deeply committed, girls who are so dedicated to GB, parents who assist so willingly and to the whole congregation for their support prayerfully and financially.