SERVING THE COMMUNITY OF WEST READING
IN THE NAME OF JESUS
The Boys' Brigade
3rd Reading Boys' Brigade is a uniformed Christian youth organisation for boys aged 5-18. The Boys' Brigade, as an organisation, is older than the Scouts (whose founder actually started off as an Officer in The Boys' Brigade).
We usually meet every Friday during Term-time (however during the current Covid-19 crisis Brigade activities have been suspended). We are split into 4 Sections according to school year groups:-
​
Anchor Boys - 5-8 years (School Years 1-3)
Junior Section - 8-11 years (School Years 4-6)
Company Section - 11+
Seniors - Boys move up to Seniors after their 15th Birthday.
​
Anchors and Juniors run from 6:30pm-8pm each Friday, while Company Section and Seniors run from 7pm-9pm.
We aim to run a fun and varied programme, incorporating games, craft, Christian content (relevant to the specific age group) and activities to encourage Boys to think about the world around them. Boys work in these areas earn them badges that are presented each year at our Presentation Evening in June/July.
Our BB Company is part of a bigger Battalion (group of Companies) incorporating Guildford, Fleet, Woking and other surrounding towns. Throughout the year we join together, as a Battalion, for group activities, competitions and fun days and a Sports Day.
3rd Reading has a "sister" Girls' Brigade Company (which also meets on a Friday night) and we jointly run an annual Junior Camp (a local weekend residential Camp) and an annual Senior Camp (a week-long canvas Camp, which has taken place on various different sites over the years, including Haytor, The New Forest and The Forest of Dean).
3rd Reading Boys' Brigade is financed through subs of £1.70 per week (subscriptions can also be paid termly or annually, which work out slightly cheaper). To allow new boys to work out whether BB is for them, we offer the first 6 weeks subs free. Equally although we are a uniformed organisation, we would not expect parents to purchase uniform until the end of the 6 week taster sessions.
​
During the current Covid-19 restrictions our Brigade meetings have been suspended, however, The Boys' Brigade has created a new initiative called BB@Home. We appreciate the importance of maintaining links with our Boys and want to encourage them to stay connected with BB. During the current lockdown, BB@Home aims to publish a selection of challenges for Boys to try their hands at. There are activities for Boys in each of the Sections and have included Den Building for Anchors, Bug Hunting for Juniors and cooking a meal for Company Section and Seniors. Each Section has a range of challenges to attempt with new activities being released each Friday.
You can access these activities by clicking on the image