The Boys Brigade

The Boys’ Brigade is the oldest uniformed youth organisation in the world and was founded in Glasgow, Scotland by (Sir) William Alexander Smith in 1883. Following the inception of the 1st Glasgow Company on the 4th October 1883 the movement quickly spread across the United Kingdom and became a worldwide organisation by the early 1890’s.

Object, Motto and Emblem (taken from – Wikipedia Encyclopaedia)

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.” Except for the addition of the word “obedience” in 1893, the object has remained unchanged from the beginning.

When designing the Brigade’s motto and crest, William Smith referred directly to Hebrews 6:19 in King James Version of the Bible, “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and Stedfast…”

From this verse came the BB motto, “Sure and Stedfast”, retaining the old spelling of the latter word. Today, some parts of the movement have adopted the modern spelling of “Steadfast”, whilst others continue to use the original spelling.

The crest was originally a plain anchor, bearing the BB motto with a capital 'B' on either side. Upon the merger between the Boys' Brigade and the Boys' Life Brigade in 1926, the red Greek cross was placed behind the anchor to form the current emblem. The cross originally formed part of emblem of the Boys’ Life Brigade.

For a more detailed history of the Boys’ Brigade please follow one of the links below:

Wikipedia’s International History: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy%27s_Brigade

Boys’ Brigade UK History page: http://.boys-brigade.org.uk/aboutus/history.htm

The BB Mission Statement

The Mission Statement was adopted by Brigade Council on 4th September 1999.

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; and
• creating opportunities to develop partnerships with other appropriate organisations and agencies