On this page you will find the last two or three 'Dear Parents and Friends' letters. Although much of the content also appears on our 'News' page, you are able to see the whole letter here, even if your boy(s) were absent from BB. In this way you shouldn't miss out on news from 'the 8th'.8th Hartlepool Boys’ Brigade
 
Dear Parents and Friends,                                                            3rd September 2010
  
Welcome back to BB!
  
We do hope that everyone enjoyed their summer holidays and that school starts well, especially for those who have made the move to a new one.
2009/10 was another great session for ‘the 8th’ with many highlights and Company Camp was quickly followed a well earned rest for everyone.
   
We expect that almost everyone will have been able to return tonight and with new boys joining all of our sections in the coming weeks our membership continues to be very strong (90+). High numbers do present a few problems though, not least keeping everyone engaged and happy which is why we’d like to know if you’re concerned your boy might not be enjoying BB for some reason. Please let us know.
    
The new session has brought some changes to the way we staff our sections and we wish Andi, Robert and Andrea well as they begin to lead the Anchors, Juniors & Senior sections respectively. Andi’s appointment comes as a result of Elaine leaving us as a regular leader (although she will attend sometimes) and we thank her for all the work she did with us – we will miss you!
Robert (Kipper) will be running the 13.2 miles of the Great North Run on September 19th and would like to raise money for the company – if you would like to sponsor him, please do so on the 10th or 17th. Thanks.
     
We’d like to remind you that every boy is expected to be in full uniform of polo shirt & sweatshirt with black trousers, dark socks and polished black shoes. Please note that uniform for those in school/college years 10+ is shirt & tie. We will provide armbands and badges as the lads earn them trough our awards programme. Everyone should also bring games kit to change into with a bag to keep it tidy. Thank you.
Those wishing to buy new uniform can do so any Friday night by paying in advance. We do have some you can try on, but we order all of our new uniform from BB Supplies with it usually taking 2 weeks to arrive.
     
Our Weekly Subs and Meeting Times remain unchanged for another year, which means they stay at £1.75 per boy per week for 6.30pm-8.00pm or £2 for 7pm-10pm respectively. Our Annual Membership Fee also remains unchanged with £12 now due for the first boy in every family only. The fee for the second, third and fourth boy in the same family stays at £10. We use this money to cover our annual fee and insurance premium to BB HQ which last year was a massive £935.00p. Please arrange to pay by the end of September. Thank you.
     
If you are able to ‘Gift Aid’ your giving, we can claim the V.A.T. back on this which boosts your donations by 20p in the pound. If you’ve not signed a Gift Aid Form, we will invite you to do so soon. If you already have, thank you, you don’t need to sign another. Please notify us of any change of address though by highlighting it on our Annual Consent Form which we will issue next week along with an invitation to our Juniors, Company & Seniors to spend a weekend away at Broomley Grange next month.
Further diary dates including Hartlepool Battalion competitions will be issued as we get them. In the meantime please note the following:
     
Parades: Sunday 3rd October & Sunday 7th November at 10.30am
Broomley Weekend: Friday 29th October – Sunday 31st October 2010
Junior Camp: Friday 27th May – Friday 3rd June 2011
Company/Senior Camp: Saturday 23rd – Saturday 30th July 2011
    
Don’t forget to keep an eye on our new-look website for more news, photos, games and messages from ‘the 8th’,
      
With best wishes from everyone at ‘the 8th’ www.the8th.co.uk