girls brigade
1st Torrance Girls' Brigade
The Girls’ Brigade is an international Christian youth organisation and is widely recognised as the sister organisation to the Boys’ Brigade. 1st Torrance GB meets every Wednesday night at Torrance Church.
Girls Brigade, in its earliest forms, has been around in Scotland for over 100 years. We don’t want to live in the past because our function is to serve today’s young people. However, our aim has not changed: "to help girls become followers of the Lord Jesus Christ". We recognise that the influences surrounding our young people are not always helpful and that too many lose control at great cost to themselves and their families. The answer is to catch the energy and enthusiasm of youth and to channel it purposefully with the ultimate hope – and privilege - of leading the girls to a life of service for Christ.
P1 – P3: Explorers (6 – 7pm)
Well, at Explorers the girls............have fun; play games; listen to stories; learn about Jesus and His love for them; help others; make things; bake; see their friends and make new friends; go on outings; learn about the world around them; draw and paint; dance and sing; do drama and mime; learn their right from their left and sometimes they march and feel very grown up!
P4 – P7: Juniors (7 – 8:15pm)
Juniors are busy people, there's no doubt about it! They meet every week to chat; laugh; see their friends and make new ones; they dance; sing; act; talk; listen; bake; craft; play games; do maze marching and drill; conquer challenges; see and experience new things, find out about the world and themselves; and learn of God's love. They go to camp, take part in competitions, have parties, put on displays; help people and fundraise for charities: and through all this gain confidence, new skills, learn self control and respect for themselves and others. The girls will follow a programme to complete Badge work in topics of Educational, Spiritual, Physical and Service.
S1 – S6: Brigaders (7 – 9pm)
As Brigaders there is so much to do and so many opportunities open to the older girls. As well as more challenging badge work within Girls' Brigade and the focus on Spiritual, Physical, Educational and Service topics as Brigaders they are involved in picking topics that are relevant to them, where they can extend current interests, i.e., dance, music, art, drama, sports and have the opportunity to be introduced to new concepts, to think about who they are and how they fit into the world around them. Brigaders isn't all theory, it’s about getting out, getting involved and making a difference for themselves and those around them. They can also take in the opportunities and challenges of Leadership Training, The Duke of Edinburgh's Award and Queen's Award and experience all they have to offer.
All leaders have been fully disclosed and experienced in teaching / guiding the children.
Activities
Girls' Brigade is an active part of the Church and we include various activities throughout the year. Previously the girls
- made Christmas crafts for the folks in the friendship lunch
- challenged the Boys Brigade to a quiz and games night
- dressed in red to support Comic Relief
- held a beauty night to raise funds
- raised money to sink a well in an Indian village without any clean water
- led the church service
- two of our leaders completed the Glasgow 10k and helped to raise over £35,000 for Cancer Research and Girls Brigade
- had a trip to the stables to see the work of Riding for the Disabled
- Have been on a Girls Brigade weekend away to the outdoor centre at Lendrick Muir for activities such as orienteering, archery, mountain biking, ropes course
- Entered Keep Fit competitions – although we didn’t win we had a great time!
- Packed shoeboxes for children & adults across Europe through Blythswood Care
For more information, contact Joyce Thomson.
>> Visit the Girls' Brigade Scotland website.