<p>1st Totton Company;</p><p>Our company membership numbers have increased slightly over the last 12 months and we currently have 30 members (5 Explorers, 12 Juniors, 6 Seniors, 3 Brigaders and 4 Young Leaders), all supported each week by a great team of 12 dedicated leaders, bringing so much of themselves with their skills and talents each week to GB. We are keen to recruit more girls to our Explorer section and will look at this further in the spring. </p><p>Although our church still doesn’t have a permanent minister, the wider church family continue to support us in our outreach and activities. Revd Andy Warren is our chaplain and helps lead our monthly parade services, making sure they are young people friendly and involving the girls wherever. The numbers of girls and their families attending our parade/family services in recent months have improved. We are also blessed in Matthew Stuart, a former member of 1st Totton BB company, who has been appointed as Trinity’s Youth worker in recent months and we look forward to building a strong and supportive partnership with him. </p><p>We continue to be busy both in company and in our outreach and our members took part in a number of activities throughout the year including; district young leader training, Totton Remembrance Parade, Moonraker night hike, Totton Carnival, Family Barn dance, Award Presentation Event and Trinity BBQ. A planned weekend camp had to be cancelled due to Jan McCarthy being on jury service during the period, but plans are being made for a weekend camp for older members and sleepover for younger members this year. </p><p>Isobel Clifford gained her Silver DofE and Brigader Brooch awards before leaving for Cardiff University in September and we were delighted to finally present Anna Doswell and Danielle Yates with their Silver DofE awards too.</p><p>We have struggled in recent months with finding a GB identify; trying to keep up with the changes in GB uniform, terminology and the new programmes, which are not always practical for us. Increasingly, our members come from non-churched back grounds and this impacts on the delivery of our programme and other events / activities. Leaders adapt the formats to suit the needs of the members and continue to provide a good range of activities with a strong Christian message at our weekly meetings. The company plays an important part in the church’s local community outreach. We are keen to support our GB district and local Christian youth events, recognising the importance of our young people hearing the message from their peers and seeing the value in living a Christian life. </p><p>1st Totton company looks forward to another busy year, encouraging girls to know Jesus and make him part of their lives every day, not just on GB company evenings.</p><p>Jan McCarthy Company Captain</p>