The start of a new session presents a great opportunity to welcome new members to the BB family. In this blog piece, Robert Cunningham (a leader at 4th Carluke) shares why children and young people are and should always be Our Greatest Ambassadors.

Check it out below…

In my experience there are two main routes to becoming a member of the BB.

The first one is where a young person follows in the footsteps of parents/carers or siblings – families where there has been involvement in the BB perhaps over many generations. The second route sees the young person as the first in their family to step into the ‘BB world’.

I fall into the second of these two categories.

My own BB journey first began when I heard friends talking in the school playground about what they had got up to the evening before at Juniors. I had never heard of The Boys’ Brigade – though I wish I had.

The children and young people of the BB family are our greatest ambassadors… they always should be.

Over the last few years Thomas, a BB member in Northampton, has encouraged five of his friends to join him at BB. Some of his friends have since brought friends of their own or have encouraged their siblings to join them too. However, Thomas hasn’t just limited himself to just bringing his friends along, with his mum joining the Company as a leader.

As we look towards the new session there are undoubtedly huge opportunities to welcome new members to the BB family, particularly in the context where children and young people have missed out on so much over the last few years. We do provide a really important place for young people to learn, grow, discover and yes have fun.

Sometimes when it comes to ‘recruitment’ I think we can fall into the trap of looking for the easy answer. Perhaps more national advertising or a high-profile celebrity ambassador is just what we need. Whilst I certainly wouldn’t dismiss shiny advertising campaigns and backing from famous faces, I think the real answers are a lot closer to home.

I joined the BB for no simpler reason than my friends were there, they were having fun and I wanted to have fun too.

Does it need to be more complicated than that?

As true as it was for me then, and as true as it has been for nearly 140 years of our history, so too is it true today.

The key to bringing more young people to this great organisation that we are part of is our young people themselves.

Robert Cunningham
Leader at 4th Carluke
#OurGreatestAmbassadors

Find your nearest BB group at boys-brigade.org.uk/find-a-group

Are you a Company leader? We’re encouraging leaders to consider how their own children and young people can be their voice locally. Share your activity with us on social media using #OurGreatestAmbassadors