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1st Cowal: A Year of Growth and Achievement

This is a copy of our most recent article within the Cowal Kirk News for June 2023

As we enter the final few weeks of our year, it is a time to reflect on our achievements at the 1st Cowal. In February, we launched a major recruitment drive, and we are now proud to have 37 young people across our sections. This is a phenomenal achievement, given that when I took over as Captain we had less than 10 members. What is even more exciting is that our waiting list continues to grow, with more young people eager to experience life at the 1st Cowal.


Over the last four weeks, our Anchor Section have undertaken a variety of activities linked to their badges, such as Get Active, Get Involved and Get Into The Bible. We explored good and bad choices and explained that Christians have God in their life to help them with their choices by asking Him for His wisdom and guidance. Junior Section have been learning about the story of King Solomon, alongside making progress against their Get Active, Get Learning and Get Creative badges. Company and Senior Section have been making progress against their Get Involved, Get Creative and Get Into The Bible badges, learning about and discussing “The Impossible Battles” that we see in the Bible and how we
think these battles were overcome.


On Wednesday, June 14th, at 6pm, we will be hosting our annual Awards Presentation Evening. This year, we will be giving out over 100 individual awards to our young people, joined by John Sharp, Director for Development & Communication for the Boys’ Brigade UK&I, and by Malcolm Gordon, President of the Lennox & Argyll Battalion. For many of our young people and their families, this will be their first presentation evening, and we hope it will be one to remember. We do very much hope you will all be able to join us!

Awards season is upon us
Three weeks to Pizza!
Sleepovers are back…
Volunteer with Us

Over the next few weeks, we have a jam-packed program of activities planned for our members. Not only will we be continuing with our usual Wednesday night activities, but we are also looking forward to joining the Cowal Kirk for Pizza Night and the Family Picnic. We already have lots of our young people and families signed up for these events. We are also looking forward to the future. We have plans in progress to reintroduce residential sleepovers, activity fun days, and day trips. We have also confirmed the first ever Annual Family Cinema Trip, which will take place on December 2nd. We will be hosting this event, but we are also looking to invite other youth organisations from across Cowal to join us.


It has been a truly exciting year for us here at 1st Cowal, and we cannot wait to celebrate our young people’s achievements and for what is to come in our next session.

We would like to thank all of our members, families, volunteers, and supporters for their continued hard work and dedication. We could not do what we do without you.

We hope you have a wonderful summer, and we look forward to seeing you all back in September!


Jamie
Captain

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COMPANY UPDATE – August 2021

COMPANY UPDATE

Welcome

Hello from all of us at 1st Cowal.

First of all, we hope you had  a superb summer break. We are excited to be gearing up to welcome you all back on WEDNESDAY 1st September

In this update we will be giving you an overview of our plans for the next few weeks and beyond, as well as some updates on meeting times, locations and Subs.

When & Where

Our first meeting of the year will be on Wednesday 1st September @ 6pm

This half-term, we will be moving to St. Johns Church in Dunoon. Entry will be by the doors on Victoria Road (opposite Hanover Street Car Park)

On 1st September, section times will be as below; 
 

Anchors – 6pm till 7pm

Juniors – 6pm till 7pm

Company – 6pm till 7:30pm

From Wednesday 8th September our meeting times will be changing;

Anchors – 5:30pm till 6:30pm

Juniors – 6pm till 7pm

Company – 6:30pm till 7:30pm

Our Leaders for 2021/2022

You will be pleased to know our leaders have not changed;

Jamie

Captain

Officer In Charge – Company & Seniors

Claire

Helper

Leader in Charge – Anchors

Bobby

Helper

Leader in Charge – Juniors

Jen

Helper – Church Representative

Eowyn

Helper

WE ARE RECRUITING

We are recruiting volunteer leaders – the more leaders we have, the more young people we can welcome. 

If you or anyone you know can volunteer an hour of your time each week, every other week – or how often you can, then please register here;

Opportunity Details (volunteerargyllandbute.org)

Programme

The 1st September will be a relaxed welcome back with games and chatting to ease back into our Wednesday evenings

Our Leaders are all working on a programme for the next few weeks and we will share as we can.

We will also be adding in a few new things for this year;

Presentation Evening

For the first time in nearly two years, we will be holding a Presentation Evening for all our young people and families on 

WEDNESDAY 22nd SEPTEMBER

We will share more details about timings, guests and arrangements in the next couple of weeks

Church Parades

A key part of our programme is around Faith Development. 

To support this we will be reintroducing this year Church Parades –

On 4 Sundays a year, our young people will attend a church service at one of the local churches. The services will be;

– Remembrance Day

– Christingle / Carol Service

– Palm Sunday

– Harvest Festival / Thanksgiving

More information on these will be shared as we get closer – and whilst attendance is not compulsory, attendance at these is required to successfully achieve the relevant awards.

We don’t want to give away all the tricks up our sleeves but plans are afoot for new exciting activities this year including walks, sleepovers, day trips and much much more.

As plans start to get finalised we will keep you updated with dates and times and all the other necessary information. WATCH THIS SPACE!!!

Subs (Cost)

Many of you will know that normally the 1st Cowal would charge £2 per week Subs – a sort of membership fee. Due to COVID-19, we decided to suspend the charges earlier this year to get more young people back outdoors and engage in activities safely.

Over the Summer, the Board of Trustees approved a revised Subs amount.

From 1st September, Subs will be £1 per week

We have a number of options available to you to pay – you can pay by cash, card or direct debit – we can be as flexible as needed.

  • Weekly – pay weekly when you arrive
  • Termly – pay at the start of each term (£12.33 per term)
  • Yearly – pay for the full year upfront (£37 per year)

If you have any questions or concerns about Subs please contact Jamie to chat through.

Online Brigade Manager (OBM)

We ask that Parents log into Online Brigade Manager (OBM)  and check your child’s records are correct and all your contact details are up to date.

If you cannot login or would like help with this, then come along on Wednesday 1st September and Jamie will be more than happy to help.

It is really important these details are checked regularly to ensure we have the correct information to keep you up to date and can contact you in an emergency. 

If you prefer, paper forms will be available to be completed on Wednesday – just speak to Jamie.

Social Media

This year we will be increasing our use of Social Media to advertise what we do, but most importantly to keep you as parents connected to what we get up to each week. 

You can follow our public Facebook & Instagram pages.

We also have a private Facebook group just for our parents and young people where we will post updates and photos (where we have permission in OBM) of what we get up to each week

So follow us, join the group and get involved with the conversation!

That’s a wrap…

That is it for this update folks, 

If you have questions, please do not hesitate to reach out and get in touch;

Jamie

Captain
1st Cowal Boys’ Brigade & Girls’ Association


Web: 1stcowal.org
Email: 1cowal@boys-brigade.org.uk
Phone: 07717 415903
Social Media: @1cowalbb


The 1st Cowal Company Boys’ Brigade is a Charity Registered in Scotland: SC050657

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1st Cowal – June Update

Subs

We’re really excited to announce that from 1st September when we reintroduce subs we will be reducing the cost of membership!!

Currently membership costs £2 per week, however we have taken the decision to reduce this to £1 per week.

Parents will have a variety of ways to pay;

  • Cash
  • Card
  • Direct Debit

Cash

Paying weekly by cash will simply be £1 per child each week as you arrive

Weekly: 39 payments of £1

Termly: 3 payments as below;
Autumn (£14)
Spring (£16)
Summer (£9)

Annual: 1 payment of £39 due by 31st September

Card

You can pay termly or annually by card

Termly: 3 payments as below;
Autumn (£14)
Spring (£16)
Summer (£9)

Annual: 1 payment of £39

Direct Debit

You can pay annually by Direct Debit

1 payment of £39 due by 31st September

Recruiting Leaders

We’re on the look out for more volunteer leaders

Since Christmas we have more than doubled the number of young people who are members of the 1st Cowal

This is a fantastic achievement – but it presents us a problem.

In order to ensure we can provide a safe environment for our young people, we need more leaders.

If you are interested in getting involved or you know someone aged 16 or over who might be then check out our recruitment advert here

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA