39th ANNUAL REPORT (2004 - 2005)

[ The 38th Annual Report is available here The 37th Annual Report is available here]  

It is with thanks to Almighty God for all His goodness that the Executive deliver this report on our activities during 2004/5 session.

We would like to express our thanks to all our Officers and Instructors who week by week work with the Boys in our Battalion under ever increasing distractions to the main aims of our Organisation.  We appreciate the loyalty and hard work which goes into each Company and each Section during the session which has just passed.  The Executive would also acknowledge those who have carried out duties at Battalion and NID level and thank them for a job well done. 

We feel our Battalion is one of the best battalions in the NID but we are under represented at NID level.  We need Officers who are willing to give a bit more by accepting posts and taking up positions on the various NID committees and activities

It was with shock and great sadness that we heard of the death of one of our longest serving Company Captains.  Stafford Duncan, founding Captain of 3^rd Ballyclare Company died, aged seventy five, on 18^th December, 2004. Stafford was a member of 1^st Ballyclare Company as a young boy and through his teenage years.

In December 1971 the 3^rd Ballyclare Company was formed and Stafford served as their Captain until his untimely death last year.  Stafford was a dedicated and loyal member of St. John’s Church of Ireland and over the years he has given countless hours of service to the Select Vestry, Church Choir, Bowling Club and most of all to The Boys’ Brigade, where he attended Company and Junior Section activities every week.  He loved all the Company work and through it he helped shape and influence the lives of many boys and young men in the Ballyclare area.  Stafford’s death has left a large gap in the 3^rd Ballyclare Company and in many lives.  However it is certain that many lives have been enriched through having met and known ‘Staffy’.

Stafford is survived by his wife Jean, daughter Anne, son-in-law Colin, grandsons Christopher and Jonathon and his sister Olive.  We, as a Battalion acknowledge the devoted service Stafford gave to The Boys’ Brigade in the Ballyclare area.  The President extended our sympathy to the family circle.

Last session  our Battalion Chaplain resigned upon his transfer to Ballymena and we are pleased that the Rev. Jonathan Moxon, Chaplain of 1^st Ballynure Company has agreed to undertake this role.  Mr. Drew Buchanan has agreed to accept the post of Treasurer and our financial activities seem to be in good hands.

This year we were sorry to loose Mr. Brian Bell as Captain of 5^th Carrickfergus Company and we thank him for his work in the Company over the past few years.  At present we have 11 Companies within the Battalion who have no Captain or have an acting Captain and while we acknowledge all the hard work these folk do we would ask church governing bodies to seek to regularise the posts of those acting Captains and to seek to fill those vacant posts so that each company has a fully committed Captain.

Our Battalion numbers continue to hold steady with a fluctuation of less than 1% over the past three years, our all ranks numbers being around 1700. While it is pleasing that our overall numbers are remaining steady we are not growing and attracting Boys into our Companies where we are able to fulfil our Lord’s command that we go and teach His word to all.  The Roy McCune Cup for all Company  work and the Fitzell Cup for Junior Section work were both won by 8^th Carrickfergus Company.  In the Scripture Exam we had an increased entry but we still have a quarter of our companies not competing due perhaps to the delay in recent years of producing the syllabus and course work booklets.  We would ask those companies to consider undertaking the NID course and to use it as the qualifying award for the Stage 3 Leadership badge. At the same time we are asking the NID to try to make sure that the course work is relevant and appropriate to Boys of Company Section age and that it is produced before mid August so that Companies can study and then use the material as soon as the new session starts.  We would like to congratulate all the Boys who won awards at our recent Examination.

Our other Battalion activities continued with our usual programme of activities. At NID level congratulations are due to 3^rd Carrickfergus Drill Squad on winning the Drill competition, 1^st Whitehead Senior rugby players on winning the 7-a-side rugby competition and to 1^st Ballyclare who qualified for the Irish final of the junior 5-a-side football competition. 1^st Ballyclare along with 1^st Greenisland qualified for the Irish final of the Masterteam quiz competition and 1^st Ballyclare  went on to finish fifth in the National final. Our Battalion footballers are currently engaged in the inter- battalion competitions.