Girls' Brigade is a worldwide Christian organisation for girls and women, with the aim to help girls become followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, and through self-control, reverence and a sense of responsibility find true enrichment of life. Girls' Brigade has been running in Newtonhill since 1995. We meet on a Monday evening in Newtonhill Parish Church.
Girls belong to one of three sections:
Leaders in Girls' Brigade are volunteers from the Church, who are trained by Girls' Brigade and appointed by the Church. We are delighted that Elizabeth Platt has now completed her training this year and been commissioned as an officer in the company working alongside Julie Miller and Zoe Ashby.
Girls from S3 upwards are encouraged to take part in leadership training. When they reach S5 they may attend a residential weekend, designed to give the girls training to become warrant officers in the company. Four of our girls have now participated in the residential weekend; an enjoyable time was had by all.
Brigaders are also encouraged to participate in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award. We were able to present one silver and one bronze award this year, whilst another two girls are working on silver and bronze.
The highest award in Girls Brigade is the Queens Award — the aim of which is to "inspire girls to greater endeavour in service and personal commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ." We are delighted to announce the first Queen's Award girls, for the company, Rachel Conkey and Rachael Crockett. Both girls have worked hard over the past two years and following a presentation ceremony in Hamilton on 9th May 2008, are now proud holders of the Queen's Award, the first for the Company and a fantastic achievement.
As well as badgework, the girls train to compete with other companies for various Aberdeen Divisional trophies. Over the years we have had firsts in Basic Choir, Explorer Craft, Brigader Spiritual Dance, Brigader Craft, Basic Drill and Advanced Choir. This year our explorers were 1st equal in the physical giving us another first for Newtonhill.
For more details contact Fiona Leslie (731418) the Brigade Captain. You may also be interested in the National Girls' Brigade website.