Moving back to my hometown last year brought many memories with it, but few have been stronger than walking past the church I used to attend both through Sunday School and, for most my childhood, as a member of 1st Dumbarton Boys Brigade (BB).

I can still picture the halls behind the church used for various social groups, but mostly for my time spent in them with the BB, time doing marching drills, uniform inspections, physical education routines (think vaults and trampolines and basic exercise, random indoor games with dodgeball a favourite), and the end of year displays combining everything we’d learned to show off in front of parents, during which awards were handed out – best squad (based on uniform and conduct), best squad games (who won the most competitions), and the Best Boy award.

I enjoyed it a lot, being part of something organised like that. We did hikes, we spent time in outdoor centres, we did canoeing, and marched on Remembrance Day alongside the veterans, and latterly I went on to achieve my Queens badge; the highest award that required a level of community service that got me into Hospital Radio amongst other things.

I joined the Anchors when I was about 7 I think, and continued through Juniors, Company, and on to Seniors before leaving when I was 17. It coincided with the arrival of my sister which, in hindsight, coincided with the beginning of my perfectionism and my need for approval and love which drove me, not always in a healthy way, to overachieve. Without realising it at the time I pushed and pushed to be the best and latterly to have the best squad (I was a Sergeant by that time, I think) to the point I even ended up carrying two additional rucksacks up a big hill during one competition so my team wouldn’t be too slow.

I won everything I could. I won Best Boy in the Juniors and when I moved up to the Seniors and was old enough to lead my own squad, we won the squad games and best squad in the same year that I also won Best Boy. ALL THE TROPHIES!! A triumph for my early perfectionism trait indeed. [insert slow hand clap here]

As I mentioned, this all took part in our local church hall and whilst you didn’t HAVE to attend church to be in the BB it was certainly encouraged. My parents went to that church so growing up it was just what we did on a Sunday morning but, despite having also attended Scripture Union camps and some bible classes after school at times, I fell away from religion purely because I embraced science and knowledge and could no longer marry the two together. Between that, and the growing realisation that girls and alcohol were kinda fun, I stopped going to the BB, never became an Officer (the ‘final’ step as you need to be an adult to help run the chapter) and my life moved in another direction.

There are a lot of positives I take from that time though, the camaraderie, the organised events – I took part in a nation wide hiking competition twice, with teams from all over the UK doing the West Lowland Hike with timed stages, the second time is when I first injured my knee (for those paying attention at the back, I’ve mentioned this before!) – and overall it was a positive happy time for me and I know I benefited from some of the things I learned there. 

I am musing on all of this purely because I’m thinking ahead for my own son, he’s almost three so is still a year away from being able to join the Scouts (as a Squirrel, don’t ya know) or two years away from joining the BB as an Anchor Boy.

I think it will be Scouts. Whilst my Dad and I were in the Boys Brigade, I can’t really push my son into an organisation that has its roots based in religion when I don’t believe in one. So I find myself researching the Scouts and find that the local branch is called 1st Dumbarton and meets in the same church hall that I attended all those years ago. Alas they don’t have a Squirrels section, so we’ll need to wait until Jack is 6 before we can start him there.

I do hope it gives him the chances I had to explore the (local) world a little, and find out a bit more about himself. For me, I know the BB gave me a lot of confidence and helped me realise that there were some things I could excel at, and others that weren’t my strength. Those lessons alone were valuable to have as a teenager, even if I didn’t always act on them.

But I have to admit though, I’m mostly keen to get back into those church halls and see how little they’ve changed. I spent 10 years of my young life, 2 or 3 times a week, in them, in every hall, in every room, the ministers office (before I got married the first time), the kitchen to run the tuck-shop, the waiting room ahead of my sisters christening, and everywhere else. So many fond memories, I can’t wait to discover what ones come flooding back.