Juniors 100

In 2017 we will be celebrating the centenary of the Junior Section (Juniors), a significant anniversary in the life of our organisation and one that we hope members will want to celebrate locally and nationally.

Our celebrations will take place across the calendar year, covering both the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 sessions allowing ample opportunities for local and national events to take place.

There will be activities at a Company level that your Juniors can participate in including the Juniors 100 Challenge, International Team Games, The BIG 100 Party, Comic Relief 2017 as well as programme ideas and resources. These will be alongside national opportunities to celebrate including regional services and events.

The History

Up until 1917 The Boys' Brigade had only catered for Boys aged 12 and over. However, in September 1917, Brigade Council (the governing body of The Boys' Brigade) setup the Boy Reserves to cater for Boys aged 9 to 12 years of age. For several years prior to this a number of Companies had started to take in recruits under twelve, the Boy Scouts had done so too from 1916 as Wolf Cubs, and for this reason there were calls to lower the age limit to accommodate these Boys within the Brigade.

The uniform adopted by the Boy Reserves was nautical consisting of a sailor's cap, navy blue jersey and shorts. The NCO's working with them too had nautical ranks as petty officers. In the early days of the Boy Reserves there was a noticeable increase in attendance at Sunday School in those churches which had adopted the section and the number of Companies operating a Boy Reserves quickly started to grow. By 1918 there were more than 1,500 members of the Boy Reserves across the UK, the section continued to grow through the 1920's.

Life BoysIn 1926 The Boys' Brigade Boy Reserves merged with The Boys' Life Brigade Lifeboys and became known as the Life Boys. With this amalgamation membership increased to more than 30,000 Boys in the early 1930's and then to more than 70,000 in the 1950's.

When in 1966 the Life Boys became a full part of the Brigade as the Junior Section, a name which, intended to be temporary until a better one could be thought of, it still holds today; although originally as now many often refer to the Boys and Girls of the age group just as Juniors.

Original Article - National BB Website