Dunblane Boys’ Brigade: The officer and boys invite everyone connected to the company - past and present - to join them in the Cathedral this Friday evening at 7.30pm for the Boys’ Brigade and Girls’ Brigade joint dedication service for the 2014/15 session.

The BB Band will lead the worship and Rev. Colin Renwick and Rev. Ian Paterson will conduct the service and Act of Dedication. Please be seated by 7.25pm. Refreshments will be served afterwards in the hall and the Brigade will be pleased to catch up with former members and parents there.

This Saturday, the company section and P6 boys will be bag-packing at Sainsbury’s in Stirling from 10am-5pm so please support them in their efforts there if you can.

The club would like to thank everyone who donated to the monthly Startup Stirling food bank collection last week. Your contributions are highly valuable and valued by those who need them most.

If you would like to donate to the BB in honour of the 48 boys who took part in a 15km sponsored walk on Sunday, you can do so online at www.justgiving.com/dunblanebb.

For more information on the BB in Dunblane, please see www.dunblanebb.org.uk, facebook.com/dunblanebb, or call 01786 823192.

Boys’ Brigade rise to 1000km challenge: Inspired by the recent world-record-breaking feat set by 16 young leaders, Boys’ Brigade members from the Stirling area are now setting off on a challenge of their own; to cover 1000km as a group in the outdoors. For over a century as a leader in getting boys and young men into the great outdoors, the BB has raised the bar with its recruitment and awareness campaign this year, daring youngsters from every company in Scotland to cover the length of Scotland by cycling, hiking, paddling, riding on horseback or any other outdoors method. On Saturday Junior Section (P4-P6) boys from 4th Stirling (Allan Park South) and 25th Stirling (Dunblane) visited Carronvale House with their bikes to take part in a Bikeability cycle skills course run by Recyke-a-Bike. Not only did the boys learn safety and riding skills, but had their bikes tuned up, learned how to maintain them and acquired a few tricks into the bargain.

On Sunday, Company Section (P7-S3) boys from Dunblane ate up a huge chunk of their 1000km challenge by taking part in a sponsored walk from Dollar to Glendevon and back, covering 15km each. The Dunblane group, which also provides Duke of Edinburgh awards at Bronze, Silver and Gold levels for its S4-S6 boys, has covered a great deal more through the related expeditions with a recent treasure hunt for Junior Section boys and one amazing individual cyclist, Liam McGregor, who covered the distance from Thurso to Glasgow in his own BB sponsored cycle during the summer.

The Boys’ Brigade in Stirling & Clackmannanshire provides many opportunities for boys and young men to get out and about, as well as to learn life skills, citizenship, creativity, gain a variety of awards and develop their faith. Your local company would be glad to hear from you in Stirling, Tillicoultry, Alloa, Bridge of Allan, St Ninians, Clackmannan and Dunblane. For more information, contact Ian McCallum, development officer, on 01324 562008 or email info@stirlingbb.org.uk.