Brigades
2ND HALIFAX ILLINGWORTH MOOR COMPANY PARENTS & FRIENDS PRESENTATION EVENING 2008
Friday 16th May 2008 6:45PM
The Boys' Brigade P&F evening was held on Friday 16th May 2008 with guests Rev Pete Taljaard (Company Chaplain), Mrs Janice Crowther (IM Girls' Brigade) and Miss Janet Mason (President of the Halifax Battalion).
CAPTAINS REPORT (Andy Kay)
Welcome to our Parents and Friends Presentation Evening. Tonight see the end of a busy and sometimes hectic BB year. We have taken part in many of the Battalion activities and we still have things to do over the next few months.
Each of the sections have put together a report on their own BB year and I thank Mrs Whitehead / Mrs Cartwright and Leigha for their hard work in the Anchorboys. Mr Murgatroyd and his team (Mr Heavyside / Mr Carr and Mr Lee) have worked really hard with the Junior Section. They have a lot of lads to look after and still they manage to get through a full programme each week as well as entering many of the competitions within the Battalion.
The Company section staff of Mr Widdop / Mr Farrell / Mr Robinson and Mr Tassell-Burns have arranged a varied programme for the lads. Attendance at Battalion activities has been rather disappointing this year. We try to encourage the lads to enter the dozen or so competitions to accompany the football league competition, but there seems to be a lack of interest on many parts. This is a shame because we work very hard as a Battalion to offer and organise these events and with one of the largest Company sections in the Battalion, we should be flying the Illingworth flag more regularly. I can only ask parents to continue to read the newsletters and encourage the lads to take a more active role in the many activities on offer.
Nevertheless, Monday nights sees the company continue to mantain good attendances and all the sections have commented on the smart and tidy turnout for inspection. We have several lads in all three sections who are in with a chance of the inspection awards.
Behaviour has often been a problem on BB nights but the staff are here to meet any challenge. At a time when boys and young men are aware of their rights - but not their responsibilities, we hope that as BB officers we can help boys to mature into more rounded members of the local community.
Every member of staff has taken some form of training this year to ensure that we are up to date with current legislation and qualification requirements. We attended courses for Youth Leader Training, First Aid, Food Hygiene and Outdoor Expedition. This is on top of Battalion, Church and Company meetings and busy home and working lives.
In my first year as Captain, I had a few targets in mind: I wanted the Company to hold a weekend camp (we took 30 lads away to Kirkham last September and have booked again for the next BB session). I wanted to make sure that we were up to date with our training and qualification requirements and I also wanted us to maintain the number of boys coming through the door on BB nights ( we still have over 40 boys and young men turning up each week). However, none of this would be possible without the enthusiasm and dedication of the officers and I thank every single one of them for everything they do for the company and your boys - God Bless.
SPECIAL AWARDS
| Milestone Award | Michael Lee | |
| Anchorboys | Best Boy | Oliver Graydon |
| Junior Section | Best Recruit | Adam Scott |
| Inspection Award | Joe Carr | |
| Attendance Award | Ben Fearnley / Nicholas Lee | |
| Best Boy | Joe Carr | |
| Company Section | Best Recruit | Adam Lewis |
| Inspection Award | Adam Lewis | |
| Sportsman Award | Daniel Murgatroyd | |
| Boy of the Year | Andrew Murgatroyd |
ANCHOR BOYS REPORT (Mrs Whitehead)
This has been my first session as leader of the Anchor Boys and I can honestly say it's been great fun. We have had a super bunch of about 12 regular attendees who are all a credit to the Company and whose parents and families should be proud.
We began the year talking about families and friends and how we should all look after one another. Crafts and games were geared around team working. Mrs Cartwright has brought some fun games with her that have gone down a treat with the boys but I'm sure if you asked them all Dodge Ball would come out tops every time.
Battalion activities this year have consisted of: Founders Day Parade where we had 9 boys attending (all great at marching). The November Activity day was not as well attended with only 4 boys from Illingworth, but the boys had a great time joining in with the Christmas theme making Christmas crafts, baking, singing and playing games.
My wish for next year is that more boys will represent us at Battalion events. Our Flag day in Halifax made a grand total of £488.12 towards Battalion funds and I would like to thank the boys who gave up their time to come and help us collect. It's always easier to get money from the public if you have a few angelic faces about!!
I'd like to thank Sue Cartwright and Leigha for their help throughout the year - as with work commitments it's not always easy. Any help from parents etc. would be greatly appreciated so we can continue our role in producing well rounded boys like the group we have here already at Illingworth Moor.
JUNIOR SECTION REPORT (Mr Murgatroyd)
We have had a good number of boys attending each week, with between 20 and 28 lads turning up to BB on a Monday evening. With all the sections meeting on the same night and the Junior section being such a large group, we struggle for space and the staff work hard to keep the lads busy (and in good behaviour).
The boys have worked well together and have taken a full part in the activities on offer. However, some lads can be a little overactive during quieter times such as inspection and prayers. Attendance on Mondays has been encouraging, including boys who joined over the Christmas break. However, one or two boys need to make it to more Parade Services in future.
We have taken part in nearly all the Battalion events this year and were generally well supported. We try to emphasise the taking part and enjoyment (not just the winning) but we still managed to perform well:
Dodge Ball (1st)
Bible Quiz (3rd)
Team Games (2nd)
Junior Sports (1st)
General Knowledge Quiz (4th)
Figure Marching (5th but came a close 2nd on inspection).
We came first in our league in the summer football and were beaten finalists in the cup.
We pulled out of the swimming gala due to bad behaviour when trying to sort out the teams, which is a shame considering that we have performed so well in the other events. It was particularly pleasing to see how well the lads represented the company in the 5-a-side football. Our two teams performed very well and the 'A' team won the final after extra time (and the dreaded penalty shootout). The lads were very sporting and a great credit to the company.
Finally, a big thank you to William Heavyside, Dave Lee and Nigel Carr for their hard work throughout the session. Thanks also to Andrew Murgatroyd from the Company section who has been helping out as part of his company service for the Queens Award. Celia also came along to help with the Bible Study course.
COMPANY SECTION REPORT (Mr Kay)
We had a promising start to the year back in September, with ten boys due to come up from the Junior section and, of these, we managed to keep six. The lads had a great time on the weekend camp to Kirkham. They looked after the younger boys and spent Saturday at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
We entered the football league, winning most of our matches (we also lost in the semi-final of the cup). However, entries to other competitions has been mixed. There has been a certain amount of apathy for some of these extra activities, yet when we do send teams, we do rather well. The strength of this company and the Battalion is that we are a tight unit and we work hard to offer exciting and challenging activities for our young men.
Miss Mason (our inspecting officer tonight) will no doubt tell you that we are 'bucking the trend' in Halifax, when other Battalions are losing numbers year on year. Please try and encourage the lads to take a more active role.
Our recruits have learned about the history of the BB along with drill, first aid and the Morse Code. Meanwhile, the Seniors spent the second part of the year doing the theory for their expedition award and will be put to the test during a weekend in the summer.
Many boys and families took part in the Charity Football Match on Boxing Day at Natty Lane, where we raised money for our adopted charity - Martin House. We will be calling round with sponsor forms in the coming weeks to raise money for funds and Martin House when all three sections will be taking part in the Battalion Fun Day, which will celebrate the 125th anniversary of the BB.
Finally, I would like to thank Peter Widdop / Graeme Farrell / Matthew Robinson and Ben Tassell-Burns for their hard work this year. They are growing as leaders and are gaining the respect of the young men in our care - Many Thanks.
A SPECIAL THANK YOU
The staff would like to thank families for the help and encouragement that they give the boys and the company. This has been particularly helpful this year with the introduction of booster seat legislation.
We appreciate that Monday nights require a certain amount of repeat journeys (dropping and collecting boys from different age groups). However, we feel that this is better than meeting on different evenings, where families would be tied up on two evenings (three if they have girls in GB).
Likewise, this means that we can optimise out staff (covering for holidays and absences). The down side to this is that we are often working 'close to the bone' and would appreciate any help that is available out there. Do you have a special skill or interest that could be incorporated into the badgework? Please speak to Mr Murgatroyd / Mrs Whitehead or Mr Kay if you could offer the occasional evening (or a block of three weeks for a themed badge class). Any help would be GRATEFULLY received.
Finally, thank you to parents who have donated uniforms when re-ordering. We offer these uniforms to boys who are part way through a session or moving up the following year and raise money for funds at the same time. Please remember this when ordering in September.
FORTHCOMING ACTIVITIES
Mon 19 May - Junior Section Summer Football starts
Sat 14 June - Halifax Charity Gala, Manor Heath (the Junior Section are taking part in the procession)
Sat 21 June - Church Summer Fair
Sat 28 June - Battalion Fun Day, Manor Heath, 2 pm to 4.30 pm (all sections will be doing sponsored activities)
26 Jul to 02 Aug - Company Section Battalion Camp, Julloville, France
19 Sept to 21 Sept - Company Camp to Kirkham
