Managing Awards
Late Joiners
Young people should participate in activities appropriate to their age and ability. Ideally, a new member would join in with their peer group on the activity currently being worked towards, but would gain the first of the Core Activity Awards (I.e. Bronze) and work through these in order.
Wearing the Awards
The awards are metal with a pin-on fastening. The awards are placed on the armband as set out below. When members move up to the next age group, they carry the highest core award gained up to the next age group and continue to wear that on their armband. Members can continue to wear any staged awards gained in Company, in Seniors, as these can be worked on in both age groups.
Right Armband Layout
There are five rows on the right Seniors armband:
Row 1 – Service Badge (left), Seniors Membership Award (centralised), Nights Away Award (right)
Row 2 – Seniors Core Activity Awards (centralised)
Row 3 – Staged Awards (centralised)
Row 4 – Highest Anchors Activity Award, Highest Juniors Activity Award (left), Highest Company Activity Award, Special Anniversary/Event or Recruitment Badge (right).
Row 5 – NCO Chevron (centralised). (A 5th row is achievable when using the large armband)
On the right armband a maximum of one Special Anniversary/Event or Recruitment Badges may be worn alongside the highest Anchors, Juniors and Company Activity Awards on row 4.
Left Armband Layout
There are two rows on the left Seniors armband:
Row 1 – King’s Badge (centralised)
Row 2 – Discovery Badge (left), Highest Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (centralised), President’s Badge (right)
Armband examples above shows ALL awards/badges which can be obtained during a member’s time in Seniors based on joining at age 14/15 and going through until end of session in which they attain their 18th birthday. It shows them completing all the core Activity Awards and Staged Awards. Also shown on the right armband is the Seniors Membership Award, 11 year Service Badge and the World War 1 Award Badge.
Presenting Awards
Some Companies present awards as soon as they are gained; others choose to present them at a parents’ or awards night or at a Church Parade service. Leaders should remember that the award scheme is planned to cover the four years that a young person is in the Seniors age group and only one of the Activity Awards (bronze, silver, gold, platinum) should be presented in any single session.
Record Keeping
You can keep track of progress with awards for all members using the functionality within Online Brigade Manager, from there you can record completion of individual activities and the system will let you know when an award is due. Parents/Carers and other leaders can also view the badge progress through OBM.
Alternatively, you can download a record card template which can be printed out and used to record progress.
Download Seniors Record Card
Transitioning from the old Challenge Plus Programme
It is recommended that leaders make the transition from the old award scheme to the new award scheme at the end or beginning of a session. Awards for the old programme will continue to be stocked by BB Supplies to allow for a transition over a 2-year period.
You may decide to present the new awards to everyone straight away or you might decide to only present the new awards to age groups starting out in Seniors, with existing members continuing to receive the Challenge Plus awards. The decision is for the Company to make, based on what works best.
We have mapped across the existing awards from the Challenge Plus Programme to show how these fit into the new Seniors Programme.
Discover Programme Awards – A young person needs to complete at least 1 level in the session (either at level 1,2, 3 or 4). If a young person has been all the way through the Company age group this would mean they should be working towards Level 4, but it maybe that late joiners are only working towards levels 1, 2 or 3 depending on their time in the Company. Where young people have unequal levels (i.e Community Level 4, Recreation Level 4, Skills Level 3), then the young person should do what is required to complete a consistent level across Community, Recreation and Skills Awards (I.e. Level 4).
Challenge Plus Awards – Whilst there is an opportunity in Challenge Plus to gain a Bronze, Silver or Gold Award each session, conversion is based on completing a minimum of Bronze each session to convert to the relevant Core Activity Award in the new Seniors Programme.
