Growth, Quality and Voice… Our journey!

Friday 5th August 2016

Do you like travelling?  I get asked that a lot and thankfully I do! As Director for Scotland I was used to being out and about, but since the start of the year I have certainly clocked up a few more miles. It is an amazing privilege to have this role and I would like to assure you that I will do my upmost to help develop our work across the UK and RoI.

I wonder if you have a favourite method of travel? I enjoy driving and the chance to fly but at the moment I seem to spend a fair amount of time on trains. Perhaps the train is the most efficient way of travelling at the moment? You can do some work, catch up on e-mails but still have some time to enjoy a book or just watch the countryside go by and think about what needs to be done next.

Good communication links have meant that I have already been able to visit a number of Companies and meet with many leaders and young people across the Brigade. It is quite true that we do operate differently in some places but it is also apparent that there is a lot we have in common too. So far, wherever I have visited, we have been trying to recruit more leaders, develop better programmes and try and ensure that we can share the Christian faith in an attractive and relevant way.

The Development plan gives us an excellent route map – if you haven’t read it already, do take a moment to read it. I know the Brigade Executive is committed to seeing how we can Grow, improve the Quality of our work and give young people more of a Voice in and outside of the organisation. I have seen many examples of excellent youth work but the reality is that sometimes we could be doing better and most of our Companies have the capacity to welcome more young people. If you have some good ideas or are proud of something that works well in your area, please do let us know so that we can share with others.
Bill Stevenson
Acting Brigade Secretary & CEO