It’s 2022, and things are, finally, getting back on track since our lives were all turned upside down almost 3 years ago. Covid-19 is certainly something we never thought would be around this long since it’s discovery back in August 2019 in Wuhan China, but here we are.
It’s been a long hard slog taking ourselves from one, “once in a lifetime, unprecedented event” to another. Some have managed it a bit more seamlessly than the rest of us but it’s the resilience of children that really shines through. The members of Woodside Congregational Church’s Boys’ and Girls’ Brigade Companies have been fantastic at coming out of lockdown and engaging with the Brigade’s programmes.
The 49th Aberdeen Company Boys’ Brigade and 39th Aberdeen Company Girls’ Brigade, like the rest of us, went into lockdown back in March 2020. Our boys began to meet again (with stops and starts) in September 2021; and our girls restarted in February 2022, with a new Captain, Officer and venue. A lot of change.
On the evening of Friday 27 May 2022, the girls showed off their skills they had learned in such a short space of time to proud parents, family and friends. Their new Captain and Officer, Alex Bagworth and Karen Brown respectively, have done an absolutely brilliant job of restarting the Company, getting to know the girls, and providing them with a host of new skills in just a few months.
The audience were treated to some semaphore (flag signals which spell words), Makaton “singing,” dance routines, and marching. The girl’s faces beamed with joy as they worked through their programme and burst into huge grins as they were presented with their badges reflecting their hard work, and a book to read over the summer. The guest speaker, minister for Woodside Congregational Church, Nicola Watson summed up the evening by saying, “if this is what you can do in 3 months, we can’t wait to see what you have in store for us next year!”
On Thursday 02 June 2022, it was the turn of the boys. The gauntlet had been thrown down the previous week and they answered! Again, parents, family and friends were present to a showcase of talent. The boys worked as a team in their drill as one squad. They shone in a marching routine to The Greatest Show song from the film The Greatest Showman
Then the boys flexed their muscles in their exercise and mat work routine putting many of us to shame. The closing number was a dance routine to the YouTube hit, All I Eat is Pizza by Koo Koo Kangaroo, where all of the boys put the cherry on top of a fantastic evening. In a chance for everyone to get their breath back, guest speaker, Beth Dobson a Development Worker for the Boys’ Brigade said how pleased she was that things were back on track. And how proud she was of the work the boys had put in, which was coupled with a huge round of applause from the audience. Badges and prizes were then handed out to a very proud group. One of the Anchor Boys (red jumpers) was heard to say, ‘next year, I’m going to earn that big trophy!’ And we wish him every success.
Are you interested in your son or daughter joining in the fun?
Would you like to volunteer and help our community’s children and young people reach their potential?
Then find us: Woodside Congregational Church, Hilton Community Centre, Hilton Road, or online, on Facebook, and YouTube.
Captain: Alex Bagworth
39th Aberdeen Company Girls’ Brigade
Tel: 07788 741 549
Email: [email protected]