BOYS’ BRIGADE SCHEME

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29083, 21 December 1959, Page 17

BOYS’ BRIGADE SCHEME

Duke Of Edinburgh’s Award

The Boys’ Brigade in New Zealand has, adopted the Duke of Edinburgh’s award scheme. This is announced by the New Zealand president of the brigade (Mr M. T. Dearsly).

His statement says that the Duke of Edinburgh sponsored the award as a challenge to individual and personal achievement, as a means of helping young men in their leisure time, and as a way of providing more youth leadersSeveral youth movements in Britain acted as “pilot organisations” for the initial experimental period. One of these was the Boys' Brigade. The scheme, designed for boys aged 14 to 19, is an endeavour to assist them to find new interests and develop their talents. Sir John Hunt, of Everest fame, is secretary of the award committee in the United Kingdom. The award is now available to groups in Commonwealth countries outside Britain. The scheme is divided into four sections of three series. The sections are:— (1) Rescue and public service training, covering first aid, lifesaving and fire service. The Boys’ Brigade badges in these subjects have been adapted to comply with the standards required. <2) Expeditions, a section that is most suitable for New Zealand conditions and consists of overnight expeditions on a graduated scale over the three series. (3) Pursuits and projects, which cover arts and crafts, band work, signalling, seamanship. The Boys’ Brigade badge system has the atandards required for this section. (4) Fitness, a section in which the Boys’ Brigade has adapted its athletic and swimming badges to conform to the high standards of the award. The three series cover the bronze award for boys 14 and over, the silver award for the boys 15 and over, and the gold award for the boys 16 and over.

Already, in the United Kingdom, a number of Boys’ Brigade boys have qualified for their gold awards, and it is hoped that at the end of the three years there will be several gold awards presented to New Zealand boys, the statement says. A feature of the scheme is the manner in which organisations auch as first-aid organisations, athletic associations, and many others have co-operated in providing specialist instruction. It is not expected that there will be difficulty in obtaining the services required in addition to those at present rendered by voluntary societies.

As far as is known the Boys’ Brigade is the first New Zealand organisation to adopt the scheme in its entirety, says the statement.