Anchor Boys become official

Press, 2 December 1985, Page 7

Anchor Boys become official

New Zealand’s first official launching of an Anchor Boys section of the Boys’ Brigade took place in Christchurch at the weekend. About 150 people attended the launching at St Paul’s Trinity Pacific Church yesterday, where the Canterbury Anchor Boys’ Battalion representative, Mrs Helen Lovell, presented the official certificate to the president of the Canterbury Boys’ Brigade, Mr W. H. A. Lloyd. Anchor Boys is a section of the Boys’ Brigade which caters for five-year-olds to eight-year-olds, and leads into the team section and then the company. Originating in England five years ago, Anchor Boys was set up in Christchurch

in 1982, and the movement has since grown to seven companies and about 75 boys. The captain of the second company, Mr Doug Walker, said the groups concentrated mostly on games and stories. “When we started it was just seen as a trial period to see how it would go, but it exceeded everyone’s expectations and has really taken off,” said Mr Walker. “We thought we should be officially recognised, and as this is the Canterbury Boys’ Brigade centennial year it seemed like an appropriate time,” he said. Mr Walker said there were about 15 other Anchor Boys groups in New Zealand.