“One of the best things about The Boys’ Brigade I remember vividly back then, is you’re always looking up.”
I’m a very proud Northern Irish man, I suppose though for a lot of people when they hear about Northern Ireland it is synonymous with the troubles.
I do remember what felt like every night when you came home from school, there was news of a bomb or a shooting.
However, I felt lucky to live where I did in what was quite a rural area. I went to the local Church, my grandmother’s Church, which had a BB – 1st Magheragall.
One of the best things about The Boys’ Brigade I remember vividly is you’re always looking up. You’re in Anchors and you’re looking to Juniors. And then when you’re in Juniors you look forward, you look to Company and so on.
You’ve seen the journey ahead of you and you are always wanting to move up. So many of those leaders that were part of that journey had a profound influence on my life, and I still speak today to some of them as well.
A big highlight every year would of course be the Display. The hall is full of people and the floor’s creaking, the smells of old Church hall mixed with Lynx spray and that anticipation of the whole year coming to a culmination. You couldn’t sleep that week before you were so excited. My proudest BB moment has to be gaining my Queen’s Badge and my mum pinning it on me.
I think the BB made me very determined as I was growing up, determined to succeed because I wasn’t always the fastest, the best at any games or anything like that.
I always wanted to be a pilot, and the determination I learned through BB helped so much because it’s difficult and took a long time.
However, during Covid and the impact it had on the airline industry I was made redundant. I got a job at the local supermarket, and then learned to drive a double-decker bus. I knew though that God had a plan, because nothing happens without a reason.
I was sitting one day at home, after doing the school run for the bus. I was just looking at my phone and I went into my junk mail and had an email from an airline company.
Six weeks later I was starting work as pilot with Jet2.
When my family moved over to England, I was looking for a BB Company and there were none locally. I felt in my heart God saying, “You need to start a BB”.
So I went to my then-vicar at the time in the Church and asked if we could try it. We started the Company in January 2025 and are now 1st Telford Boys’ Brigade and Girls’ Association.
I’m enjoying being a BB leader so much, and I think ‘Hook, Book and Took’ sums up BB for me.
You need something to hook young people in, to actually get them there – and the quality programme offered does that.
The book, the Bible, is the most important thing, and as you build relationships with young people, often over many years, we have the opportunity to really explore faith together. What they take away (the ‘took’) can be an unknown.
Sometimes it is that mustard seed that is planted, and you just don’t know when God will cause it to sprout and grow.
