During Autumn 2024 we will be holding some Leaders’ Roadshows across the country as opportunities for leaders to come together face-to-face to learn and develop, as well as share and encourage one another, hear updates from Brigade Staff on current priorities and come together in worship.
Roadshow Dates
There will be three Saturday roadshows (9:45am to 4:30pm, with lunch included) which you can attend:
- 12th October – Pendleton Sixth Form Campus, Salford College, Manchester (M6 7FR)
- 2nd November – Wesley’s Chapel, Central London (EC1Y 1AU)
- 16th November – Carronvale House, Larbert (FK5 3LH)
Keynote Speaker
“Proactive pastoral care: five things that every person working with young people today needs to know.”
Discover five challenges for young people in 2024 and five supportive approaches to help them build lifelong skills for mental health and wellbeing.
Our keynote speaker is Dominique Thompson, who is a multi-award winning GP, young people’s mental health expert, TEDx speaker, author and educator, with over two decades of NHS clinical experience.
Dom now works as an independent mental health consultant and speaker, whilst holding roles including; President of the Student Health Association, membership of the UK Government’s Higher Education Mental Health Implementation Taskforce, and Clinical Advisor to NICE and Student Minds. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).
She is author of The Student Wellbeing Series (Trigger Press) for young people, and co-author of How to Grow a Grown Up (PenguinRandomHouse) for parents/carers.
Dom has done two TEDx talks: ‘What I learnt from 78000 GP consultations with university students’ and ‘Understanding Why’.
For information about Dom’s work as a consultant and speaker see buzzconsulting.co.uk and check out growingagrownup.com for free parenting blogs and resources.
Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @drdomthompson
Workshops
The programme will be centred around a series of workshops, and when booking your place you will be able to select the ones you wish to attend. Options will include (click to expand and find out more):
Workshop session 1
All Things Programme: Anchors & Juniors
Our programme is an important part of our engagement with children and young people. We all want to ensure our programme is fun, engaging and progressive for the children and young people we work with on a weekly basis.
In this workshop we will:
- Share fresh programme ideas with demonstrations and hands-on opportunities to try out crafts, games and more.
- Practical tips for the delivery of a fun and engaging programme.
- Ideas for external tools and resources that will help support your programme.
Faith Journey: Stirring spiritual curiosity in children and young people
The first two stages of the BB Faith Journey model are Engage and Explore. How do we set about helping children and young people engage and explore the Christian faith when they may have little or no interest in doing so? Recent research shows that whilst young people like the idea of a God who loves them, they are perhaps less keen on some other aspects of the Christian faith. This has been described as ‘warm apathy’.
In this workshop we will:
- Explore the latest research on young people’s attitudes to the Christian faith.
- Discuss what this might mean in terms of our approach to engaging with young people and helping them explore faith in our BB groups.
- Suggest practical ways we can begin to stir spiritual curiosity in children and young people.
Navigating the Tricky Tween and Teenage Years: Understanding young people’s mental health
An interactive opportunity to learn more about anxiety, mood issues, eating and body worries (with a focus on boys) and self harm. Discover what to watch out for, what to say, how to help and what to do next.
In this workshop we will:
- Understand why these issues can occur.
- Be able to ask questions about topics that worry us.
- Learn practical ways to discuss difficult issues with young people.
- Discover where to seek more advice and support and refer on.
Workshop session 2
All Things Programme: Company & Seniors
Our programme is an important part of our engagement with children and young people. We all want to ensure our programme is fun, engaging and progressive for the children and young people we work with on a weekly basis.
In this workshop we will:
- Share fresh programme ideas with demonstrations and opportunities to try out crafts, games and more.
- Practical tips for the delivery of a fun and engaging programme.
- Ideas for external tools and resources that will help support your programme.
Faith Journey: Have you got ID? The importance of intentional discipleship
The third and fourth stages of the BB Faith Journey are Encounter and Expand. Children and young people are being discipled from the moment they step through the doors of our groups. As they encounter Jesus for themselves and are challenged to be part of expanding His Kingdom, how can we bring an intentionality to our discipleship that will provide the best support on these stages of their journey?
In this workshop:
- We will explore what we mean by intentional discipleship.
- Discuss the importance of bringing more intentionality to our interactions with young people.
- Suggest practical ways that we can bring more intentionality to the way in which we disciple young people in our groups.
Growing in Number
Looking to grow the number of children and young people you are working with? Organising a Taster/Friends Night is a great way of increasing numbers across your Company, it’s a tried and tested method and something we would encourage you to consider. Taster/Friends Nights are certainly the first method we would recommend when it comes to increasing your numbers.
In this workshop we will:
- Go through an action plan to get you ready for running a Taster/Friends Night.
- Consider your capacity and targets/goals for growth.
- Share resources and ideas on providing a warm welcome to new members.
- Take you through a 4-week sample programme.
- Help boost retention of children and young people over the long term.
Workshop session 3
Making use of Digital Tools
A look at how digital tools can help streamline administration, improve communications, support your programme delivery, and save everyone time.
In this workshop we will:
- Share how you can communicate with parents/carers more effectively.
- Take you through the NEW Digital Planning Tools.
- Show how the Parent Portal & Events functionality on OBM can streamline administration.
- Take you through how you can take card and online payments.
- Share a range of other ideas and resources.
Spaces Introduction: Helping young people grow in faith
We know that in our busy programmes, it can often be hard to create the opportunity for young people to ask questions about faith and life and discuss topics that matter to them. Earlier this year we launched our new ministry Spaces which aims to help Churches create space for young people to explore faith and encounter Jesus at a deeper level than may be possible in other settings. Spaces groups can run comfortably alongside existing BB groups as part of the Church’s ministry to young people.
In this workshop:
- We will explore the ethos of Spaces and how groups are established and supported.
- Discuss the opportunities Spaces gives for helping young people grow in faith.
- Suggest practical next steps for discovering whether starting a Spaces group might be something your Church might like to explore.
Safeguarding: Online harms and the impact on young people
Children and young people may be exposed to or engage with many types of harmful content on line. This can include illegal content such as child sexual abuse images or content that promotes terrorism or other criminal activities. Other content, not necessarily illegal can still be harmful including material depicting violent acts, or promoting self-harm, eating disorders, misogyny. There can also be harm caused by content they are exposed to because it isn’t age appropriate such as pornography.
In this workshop we will:
- Provide leaders will gain a greater understanding of the online harms that children and young people can be exposed to and the impact of online harms.
- Leaders will also hear how we can support young people affected by harmful online content, and how to respond when a young person tells you they have experienced online abuse.
How to Book
Places cost £10 per person, which helps us to cover costs involved on the day. You can book your place here.
Any Questions
If you have any questions please email us on support@boys-brigade.org.uk or phone 0300 303 4454.