GB Report 2022/23
EXPLORERS
The Explorer section had another session full of activities and fellowship. This year we had 26 Explorers including 13 Under 5's which kept us all busy and ensured lots of noise but also great fun. Chloe, Doreen and Diane were so delighted to have help from Ruby, Amy, Leah, Molly and Lauren who assisted with games, crafts, baking and scripture. Our scripture course this year followed on from last year with stories about 'Our Great Big God'.
We had our famous sponsored walk around the village on 20th November 2022. The girls always love this event in the calendar and of course the treats and refreshments provided afterwards! Thanks to all for helping us raise the fabulous amount of £1655.00 for our company’s chosen charity SANDS, who provide support to parents and families who have experienced baby loss. Well done to Lucie Prout who was the highest collector in the company.
To highlight the work of GBNI’s chosen charity for this year, Habitat for Humanity, the girls created cereal box buildings to be entered into a nationwide competition in December. We were delighted to hear shortly before our annual display that out of 775 Explorer & Junior entries, two of our Explorer Girls were highly commended by adjudicators for GBNI. Congratulations again to Emily Morrow and Evie Corrigan!
We had a full Company outing to the Ardhowen Theatre in January to see the pantomime Mother Goose. The girls were so well behaved and loved the show. With a total of 72 tickets needed for our girls, leaders and some parents it’s safe to say it was a real hit, with the new venue likely to return to the GB calendar next year.
We also entered the GBNI Explorer Choir Competition in March. We set off on the bus to Ballymena for the NI finals and were delighted to report that the girls were placed 3rd in NI overall. They were superb and we are indebted to Hazel Darragh & Lynsey McCrea who gave up so much of their time to practice with the girls in the lead up to the event and on the day itself. The girls enjoyed a game of bowling and food in Johnny Rockos after the long journey back to Fermanagh!
We were glad to get back to hosting our GB Display on 24th March 2023 after a few missed years due to COVID. The girls performed their pieces from the choir competition and the Under 5's performed 'The Other Side of the Mountain'.
The Under 5's also enjoyed an end of year play session in Johnny Rockos soft play followed by food. We hope the girls have a lovely summer break and look forward to seeing them all again in September. We will miss the P4 girls who will be moving up to Juniors and who will be delighted to get their blue hoodies!
JUNIORS
After a changeable few years at GB due to the pandemic, it was great to be back to our regular Thursday night routine for the Junior section, welcoming back old faces as well as a number of new ones. Over the course of the year, the girls enjoyed a range of activities from games to drama to craft to sport. A particular highlight was the diamond art craft where the girls intricately decorated key rings with crystals; we were highly impressed by their patience as they perfected their pieces! Food-based activities are always a favourite among the girls, and they thoroughly enjoyed icing and decorating gingerbread in the lead up to Christmas.
We were very grateful to Youth Minister Naomi Armstrong who once again led our scripture course in an interesting and engaging way. This year, as part of a new tradition for the Juniors
section, we closed every session by singing the GB prayer. In the Habitat for Humanity art competition we were thrilled that two girls from the Junior section were also recognised for their creative designs - Gabriella Wilson, who was highly commended, and Tori McElhinney, who was one of the top five best entries - a terrific achievement! We were very proud of all our girls’ creative input.
The Juniors enjoyed plenty of singing this year as they too were entered in the GBNI choir competition. After weeks of rehearsals, the girls performed ‘This is the Day’ and ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ at the finals in Ballymena and then again for their parents at the display, performances they can be extremely proud of.
Last weekend all our P6 and P7 Junior girls along with 10 senior and brigader girls attended GB camp. Our first camp since 2019 saw a change in format with activities at Share Discovery Village and using our own church hall as the base. Saturday was fun-filled and adventurous with everyone, including the leaders, having a go at banana boating (race car style), paddle-boarding, team games and combat corps. The girls enjoyed some rounders in the playpark on our return, as well as a movie night, more fun games in the hall and a BBQ lunch after attending church.
As the 2022/2023 year comes to a close, we want to say a special big thank you to Juniors leader and officer Alison McCallum who has decided to step down from GB. Alison has been a wonderful leader and supportive mentor to the girls. With her enthusiastic nature, she brought great fun and energy to Thursday nights. She will be greatly missed by all.
Once again we had a fantastic year at GB which was full of fun, friendship and fellowship, with our motto to ‘Seek Serve and Follow Christ’ always at the core.
SENIORS AND BRIGADERS
We had 18 girls registered within the section, with 5 girls involved in sub-officer training, completion of sub-officer training and/or Queens Award. This has required substantial service within the company, and we thank Ruby, Leah, Lauren, Amy and Molly for all their time and efforts.
Our scripture course this year, the fundamental basis for Girls’ Brigade, continued with the theme of ‘God is….’. This year each weekly session encouraged the girls to encounter God, his love, mercy, wisdom, faithfulness – in a world that is changing so much. We were encouraged to hold on to the promises of God and the reality and assurance that HE never changes. We thank John for continuing to deliver the scripture course within the section.
This year has seen a programme filled with various activities – marching, crafting, pizza making, hot chocolate drinking (a lot of this), sponsored walk, Praise and Pudding evening (Ardstraw), movie night/PJ party, Pantomine, and unihoc competitions (with the senior girls getting placed 3rd at district level). Between all these events we also looked at the serious issue of poverty housing and homelessness in partnership with Habitat for Humanity. We considered the importance of ‘Home’, the physical as well as the emotional elements of ‘Home’ and shared the differences in how people experience ‘Home’ in the activities they carry out there. The girls had to design their own postcard depicting ‘Home’ (for GBNI postcard art competition) and we were delighted that Eloise Hetherington was awarded Highly Commended by the judges. We concluded this topic with our own attempts at building shelters in the church hall!!
The girls enjoyed the return to our annual display which provided the opportunity to get involved in drama with much talent in evidence. It was lovely to be able to welcome back family and friends to recognise and celebrate the achievements of all the girls over the past year. As we bid farewell to our oldest girls we were delighted to award the Brigader Brooch, the second highest award in GB, to Lauren, Amy, Molly and Leah after four years of work within the Brigader section.
After the display we were thrilled to hear that Molly, Amy and Leah had achieved their Queen’s Award. The highest award a girl can gain in GB, it involved sustained efforts over the past two years in company and community service, a project piece, two initiative tests, a study paper exam, company/church attendance and mentoring as well as a final interview. Well done girls, we are very proud of your achievements. Congratulations also to Lauren, Leah and Amy for completing their sub-officer training, having been awarded their certificates at our enrolment service in November.
As you can see, it’s been another busy year for our company! We continue to thank God for his many blessings to us throughout this challenging GB session. We also wish to thank all those who helped us out in any way – you know who you are - and we thank you sincerely for willingly giving up your time to help us when we’ve needed it. A special thank you to Linda Allen and Wendy Grey for undertaking minibus driver training and to Louise Noble for her continued support with sports coaching. We are particularly grateful to our two new leaders, Diane and Kathryn, for stepping forward and committing their time and talents to serving in GB (really they were ambushed!). We are indebted to our leaders who make GB happen. This past session we have been grateful for various leaders undertaking a variety of training - food hygiene, safeguarding updates, first aid and camp training – all of which is essential in keeping our company a safe space for girls to meet for fellowship and fun. We are always looking for further support and if you are interested in helping out within our company please speak to Lee or John.
Chloe, Jessica & Lee.