It’s West Kilbride Boys Brigade’s 100th anniversary this year with a number of events planned to commemorate the celebration.

A big dinner is planned for November 30 in the village hall, and the official prizegiving took place last month. attended by Parish Church minister Rev. James McNay.

One of the young leaders Andrew Taylor has made a commemorative anchor which is currently placed in the church garden to mark the centenary

And the boys are very much in winning spirits after triumphing in the John Brown football trophy tournament recently too.

Currently West Kilbride Museum within the village hall has a display of BB memorabilia.

Andrew has carried out a range of research about the history of the movement in the village.

He said: “The number of Queen’s men is believed to intact be 75 instead of the previously quoted 74, with 11 awards in 2018 instead of 10.”

Andrew’s findings revealed that the BB have met up in six different locations in the area including the public hall, the old primary school, and the masonic hall.

There have been a total of eight captains starting with Mr Robert Conn who enrolled on May 31, 1918, while the current captain has been in place for 25 years - Nicol Armstrong.

A total of 7655 enrolments have taken place during the past century, equating to an average of 77 boys per year.

The most boys enrolled in any one year was fairly recently in 2011 when a total of 140 boys entered the ranks.

Excitement is building for the anniversary celebrations with the big dinner taking place later in the year, and an appeal has gone out to former members to get in touch.

For more details on the group, go to 1st West Kilbride Boys’ Brigade on Facebook.