This is an African proverb, which describes how a community of people needs to be involved in providing a positive environment for children to grow and develop.

Earlier this year the former England football manager Sir Gareth Southgate delivered the annual Richard Dimbleby Lecture for the BBC. He reflected on danger of toxic influence on young people and the importance of positive role models particularly in boys’ lives.

There’s a point at which boys look naturally for mentors outside their immediate family, and is often where they find the role models who inspire them the most… However boys are spending less time at youth centres, sports facilities and community events. They aren’t meeting the traditional role models I used to meet such as coaches, youth workers and teachers.”

The Boys’ Brigade has been providing this over more than 140 years, helping young people to feel included, valued and that they have something to offer each other and the world. Just think about the number of people for whom the BB has been part of their ‘village’ – contributing to who they are, what they do and how they live their life.

One of the things that always makes me smile is when, sometimes in the most random ways, you meet someone or are talking to someone and The Boys’ Brigade comes up in conversation and you end up hearing an amazing story of their connection or someone in their family’s connection to the organisation.

From the young people who will complete their time with the Brigade this year after receiving their King’s Badge, to those that were members 50 or 60 years ago, there is a huge BB community of people out there – across the UK & RoI, and of course around the world.

We want to build and connect with this community who all have one thing in common, and so later this year will be launching a new Alumni scheme – which was one of initiatives we had committed to in our five-year Strategic Plan.

Why create a BB Alumni scheme?

The new BB Alumni scheme aims to:

• Help connect former members back to the organisation and the work we are doing today. 
• Provide opportunities for Alumni to practically help and support what we are doing today, potentially through fundraising, volunteering, and more. 
• Connect former members with each other, creating potential networking opportunities. 
• Celebrate the impact the BB has had on the lives of people over the decades and continues to play in peoples’ lives.  

Former BB members have gone onto do all kinds of different things – going into the Church, business, health, finance, sport, TV, charity, education and many other fields. Of course there are the famous BB faces we know about like Sir Alex Ferguson, but through the Alumni scheme we also want to tell other stories.

We are sharing here some tasters of the testimonials that have already been gathered from just a couple of Alumni, both of whom attribute BB to being an important part of their life.

Why join?

All members of the Alumni scheme will receive regular updates which will include a focus on different former members, as well as the opportunity to reconnect with fellow Alumni.

Additional benefits will also be available to those who are current BB leaders or pay an annual subscription fee.

Look out for the new Alumni scheme launching in the Autumn.

Pete Markey

Pete was most recently the Chief Marketing Officer at Boots UK, responsible for all of their marketing activity across the UK
and RoI.

I’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy a great career: Earning an MBA, an Honorary Doctorate, and five Marketer of the Year awards. But my proudest achievement is a box of my BB badges that I used to wear on my sleeve as a child.

The Boys’ Brigade taught me so much – I learned how to camp, I learned how to play music, and I even learned how to sew. I’m still the only member of my family who can do that: whenever one of my kids’ buttons falls off, I can sort it because I’ve had that skill since I was 9 years old. 

That’s what makes the BB so important: It provides you with all these essential skills for life – a foundation on which to build yourself. I arrived as a boy and left as a man.

I wouldn’t be the person I am, doing the job I’m doing, if I hadn’t been for The Boys’ Brigade. I genuinely believe that. I am who I am today because of it.

Professor Jason Leitch CBE

Jason was the National Clinical Director of Scotland from 2015 to 2024, and helped lead the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Boys’ Brigade just fitted perfectly into my life. Looking back, it was about camaraderie and friendship, but also about independence, discipline and skills. The organisation teaches you lots of things, but mainly it’s lots of fun!  

I remember playing football… badly, but I was good at other things and certainly learned, I grew and I discovered the importance of belonging. It gave me the building blocks for a life of public service.

After leaving The Boys’ Brigade, I qualified as a dentist and then as a Consultant Oral Surgeon. I spent almost 15 years in government and was the National Clinical Director of Scotland until May 2024, It was an enormous privilege to carry out this role and work closely with colleagues across the health and care sector in service of the patients, their families and carers.

Working to help the country during the Covid-19 pandemic involved a lot of work across boundaries and sectors, as we tried to steer the country through the pandemic. I think I was also a time that highlighted just important third sector organisations, like the BB, are within local communities.

Looking forward  

Importantly, this Alumni scheme isn’t just about nostalgia and reminiscing about the past, it is very much about building a stronger future as we head towards our 150th anniversary in 2033. The BB continues to play an important part in shaping the future of young people, as it has done in the past and as we pray it will for many years to come.

Connecting with former members locally

Whilst it is hoped that the new Alumni scheme will allow former members across the country to reconnect with the organisation, many of them will obviously have a strong affinity with their Company. 

Why not consider how you could also reach out to your own alumni?

1. Volunteering: Lots of current BB leaders are people who went through the organisation as a young person. Would any of your Company’s alumni be prepared to give a bit of time to help out – though remember that they must go through the Safer Recruitment process first.
2. Events: Bringing former members together face-to-face locally is a great way to help them reconnect with those they shared their BB journey with. You could look at holding regular events (like an annual dinner) or special one-off events to tie in with special anniversaries.
3. Prayer: For many former members the BB will have been an important part of their faith journey. Asking people to pray for your work with children and young people is important and shows that our faith remains central to everything we do.
4. Opportunities to donate: There may be former members out there who might be able to sponsor the Company or specific initiatives or activities, like a summer camp fund.