At the beginning of 2006, the Brigade took part in the Tesco Sport for Schools and Clubs scheme and we asked for your help in collecting Tesco vouchers. With your help we collected 830 vouchers which we exchanged for items such as skipping ropes and balls. Thank you for your support.

We are again taking part in the scheme which started last month and runs through to mid November. You can help us by collecting the vouchers when you shop at Tesco's and posting them in our collection box in the Parish Hall porch. We would really appreciate your support to enable us to exchange the vouchers for sports equipment for our company.

What a joy it was to see our church packed with family and friends of the CLCGB for the Enrolment service on Sunday evening, 8 October. As always Brigade members were 'proud as punch' as they paraded down the aisle - as were their parents. Whispers could be heard around the church 'O, isn't he / she lovely in their uniform'.

The members had been rehearsing their responses during the week and knew exactly what they should do and say. Members of the congregation who in the dim distant past were brigaders themselves know how the teaching of a Christian organisation and the example of a Christian Officer can have a lasting influence on the life of a young person.

Thanks to the planning that went into the service many young people were enabled to take an active part in the service and our congratulations to each one of them for leading our worship in this way.

A very special gift was made to the church by Jonathan Blair, Emma White, Daniel Edmonds and David Agnew when they presented the Rector with a cheque for £1,300 from the Brigade for the work of Disability Action within the church. This money was part of the proceeds of the Brigade Abseil. Jonathan, Emma, Daniel and David were the members of the Brigade who along with a number of officers took part in the abseil. These four young people can not only tell us what the countryside looks like from the top of our church tower but they deserve our thanks and our congratulations on their bravery. Well Done!!

The Rector captured the attention of even the little Martins with the visual illustration of how Jesus came to die on the cross to wash away our sins and how believing in Him can change our lives. How did he do it? He invited three officers, Isobel, Colin and Richard, to sample three different liquids and try to identify what they were drinking. Colin proved that he was the expert coke drinker. Then he took clean water ( pure lives) and added a colouring (sins) and finally added a neutraliser ( Jesus forgives our sins). A message for all of us.

As a church we pray that the Lord will bless all of the young people and their officers in year ahead and enrich the lives of each one of them and of their families.

The 5th Annual Display was held on Friday, 31st March in the Parish Hall. The Company was delighted to welcome as their Inspecting Officer, Mrs. Margaret McCabe, Battalion Commander and as their Special Guest, Mrs. Ruth Tolerton who presented the awards. Our own Rector, the Rev. Nicholas Dark and Mr. Glen McCabe, who accompanied his wife, completed the special guest list.

We were treated to a delightful evening as we sat back in amazement and admiration and acknowledged that these smartly turned out, well behaved and talented brigadiers were our sons, daughters and grandchildren. From the swinging of the arms and the enchanting costumes to the professionalism of the marching and dance, the choral singing and the chime bars, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

The programme included 'Down on the Pond' (Pre School Martins) in which the little ones and 'the big ones' delighted us as they waddled in and out of the pond. The Martins Boys thoroughly enjoyed their World Cup Trials and weren't the dads and granddads good too, and the Martins' Girls were so energetic in Mickey's Girls that they put me to shame.

The Y Team gave us a smart marching and dance routine called 'Time Goes By' performed in black and white costumes under fluorescent lights and a musical performance from our own 'Magheragall Minstrels' entitled 'Our year in the Y Team' to the tune of 'The Wild Rover'. We enjoyed singing along and were delighted with the concentration on the faces of the boys and girls as they demonstrated their skill on the chime bars.

The J.T.C. gave us their version of the popular T. V. Programme 'the X Factor' and astonished us with their powers of concentration during the Drill Down with the Seniors and to their delight a J.T.C. member was the winner. In addition the Seniors appeared in smart dress uniform for their Figure Marching and entertained us with a 'Bus Stop' sketch.

The Finale was centred on a globe as the children appeared in the national costumes of 'Children around the World'.

The finale of any display is of course the distribution of awards. Such an array of silver wear !! On behalf of the Company a cheque for £600 was presented to Ruth Tolerton who will travel to Nairobi on 30th June with a group called Caring for Kenya's Children. The money will be used for an HIV Clinic and to equip a Nursery School on the Maasai Mara Plains. Ruth has promised to return to the Brigade when she returns to tell the children about her trip.

Thank you Martins, Y Team, J.T.C. and Seniors for a great evening! Congratulations to you all for your hard work throughout the year and on all your awards. Thank you Officers for your dedication, your skills and your hard work. Congratulations on your display. May the Lord bless you in the year ahead as you strive to advance Christ's kingdom among the younger generation.

We would like to let you know that we are taking part in the Tesco Sport for Schools and Clubs scheme. You can help us by collecting the vouchers whenever you shop at Tesco and post them in our collection box in the Parish Hall porch. We would really appreciate your support to enable us to exchange the vouchers for sports equipment for our company.

And God said, ‘I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain’.