Information for parents

The information on this page is intended for Parents and Guardians of current members as well as those who are considering joining Boys’ Brigade.

Note: From this point on the term “parent” will be used to refer to both Parents and Legal Guardians, it will just make this page easier to read.

Our No.1 Priority

Our highest priority is the protection and safety of your child while they are having fun and adventures at Boys’ Brigade.

Leaders

All of our current Leaders are DBS (formerly CRB) checked and have a considerable wealth of experience in youth work and Boys’ Brigade in general. Our least experienced Leader has been a member of 3rd Basingstoke Boys’ Brigade Company for over 25 years! See our Leaders page to read about each of our Leaders, their experience in Boys’ Brigade and their Qualifications and BB Training.

Safety and First Aid

Your child’s safety is of paramount importance to us and every necessary measure is taken to ensure this. Every Leader has a basic understanding of First Aid with several officers holding a recognised First Aid qualification. Iain Strachan, Barry Precey and Phil Lowles always have a current First Aid Certificate. There are First Aid Kits on the Church premises as well as an AED. First Aid Kits are carried on all activities away from the Church. Mobile phones are always available for emergencies.

BB Insurance Policy

While we take every precaution to keep your child safe, accidents can happen. To offer peace of mind to parents the Boys’ Brigade have an Insurance Policy which fully covers every member while they are attending BB. For more information about our Insurance Policy please Contact Us.

Parental Consent Form

In order for the Insurance Policy to be legally binding we require a Parental Consent Form to be filled out and signed on an annual basis. This form will be given to the boys at the start of the Winter Session in September and must be filled out, signed and returned as soon as possible. If the form has not been returned by the beginning of October the boy will not be allowed to join in any sporting activity until we have received the completed and signed Consent Form.

Programme of Activities

Company Section and Seniors will be supplied with a Programme of Activities at the start of each session so that Parents will be aware of the Activities that their child will be participating in. If we are leaving the Church we will inform parents of where we are going and what we will be doing. Occasionally we will organise weekend activities and trips away which may require an additional consent form specifically to cover that Activity. We will notify parents by letter for any such activity and without the completed and signed consent form the boy will not be able to attend.

Anchor Boys’ and Junior Section members do not require a Programme of Activities because all our usual fun activities take place on-site at the Church. In the unusual event that we will be taking your child off-site, either for a Friday evening or weekend event, you will be notified in advance and may need to complete and sign an additional consent form depending on the Activity.

Sessions and Holidays

Our Winter Session runs from September to December. The Spring Session from January to May. These two sessions are when we run our Indoor Activities and members are expected to wear full uniform on every Friday evening unless told otherwise the previous week. During our Summer Session from June to August, our members do not need to wear uniforms as we try to make the best of the weather and lighter evenings by going outdoors for sport or travelling outside of town to the countryside for a walk or other Outdoor Activity.

We take short breaks from Boys’ Brigade at Christmas, New Year, Easter and other times during the year including some occasions during the Summer Holidays when our Leaders might be away themselves. We will advise parents of this in advance and let you know when we resume meeting again. Occasionally it might be necessary to cancel an evening on short notice for some reason and in this instance, we will contact parents by telephone.

Behaviour Conduct Policy

Our Leaders are experienced and prepared to deal with many challenging behaviours from children and teenagers, however, there are some forms of behaviour that we will not tolerate from our members. This includes Bullying, Violent and Aggressive behaviour, excessive bad language, disrespect and backchat to Leaders and other Members. Punishments for bad behaviour range from being told to sit out of an activity or not being allowed to buy sweets from the tuck shop for minor transgressions to phone calls home to parents for more serious offences. We may ask a parent to pick up their child early or give a suspension for a week or two weeks if we feel their behaviour is serious enough to merit it. In extreme circumstances, we will ask a member to leave and not come back. Parents will be informed of the reasons and will have a chance to talk to Leaders about any such situation that occurs.

Uniform

We are a uniformed organisation and do expect our members to wear their clean uniform every week. The cost of the uniform is £25 for all new members. This payment does not have to be made in full straight away, please speak to the Captain if you would like to spread the cost. We ask for uniforms to please be returned to us when it has been outgrown or the member leaves and that way we are able to supply larger sizes (where possible) at no extra cost. In addition, members are required to wear dark trousers (school trousers are ideal), dark coloured socks and black shoes or trainers (no white socks or white trainers please). Please see the relevant page for the age group of your child for further information about uniform and badges.

Weekly Subs and other costs

We charge a weekly subs fee of £2.00 for Anchors/Juniors and £3.00 for Company/Seniors which covers the cost of heating, lighting and resources. When a new member first joins their first week is FREE.

Some Activities and trips away may incur an additional cost to cover transport, accommodation, food and other expenses. We endeavour to keep the costs as low as possible subsidising some of the cost from our Fund Raising activities when we can. Parents will be notified well in advance of these events and may pay in installments if they wish. Other arrangements can be made for families with low incomes or if you have two or more members in Boys’ Brigade. Please speak to one of the Leaders to make alternative arrangements.

Members and we will let parents know well in advance when we are holding fundraising events.

Photographs and this Website

Please see our Privacy Policy to read about our commitment to protecting the identity and personal details of our members using this website. The Privacy Policy also details our policy on photographs. Parents may choose to exclude their child from all photographs by supplying Leaders with written confirmation explicitly stating as such.

Church Parade

We are a Christian organisation and expect our members to always attend Church Parade wearing a full clean uniform. We currently hold five Sunday Church Parades a year normally the second Sunday in February, April, June, October and December. Members will be notified well in advance of when they will be.

Fund Raising Activities

We are a charitable organisation and need to raise funds to pay our expenses. Help is greatly appreciated from all of our members and we will let parents know well in advance when we are holding fundraising events. For more information on fundraising or making a donation please click here.

Parental Assistance and Involvement

We would appreciate any assistance from parents at Fund Raising events, Church Parades or any other activity we are running. At many times in the past, the involvement of parents has been a big help to our company and have even run events just for our members’ parents, taking parents and Leaders away on Brecon and Camping trips. If any parent wants to become involved with helping to run Boys’ Brigade they would be most welcome. There are opportunities for parents to join the Company as a Leader themselves, see the Volunteers section of our Leaders page for details. Please speak to any of our Leaders and ask what you can do to help.

Advice for Parents

The best advice we can give to parents is to talk to your boys and find out what they have been doing at Boys’ Brigade, make sure they are enjoying it and not having problems with anything. Sometimes a boy would be willing to tell you about something they are not comfortable talking to the Leaders about and if this is the case we urge parents to get in contact with the Leaders and talk to us about anything that may be concerning you, anything we can do better, any problems that need addressing. We are always willing to take your worries seriously and answer any questions you may have.

We hope this has answered some of the questions you may have about us. If there is anything else you would like to know, anything you would like a further explanation about then please don’t hesitate to Contact Us with your questions or comments.