At our Parents’ Night we surprised Lt Lynne Bruce, OIC of Anchors, with the brand new 1st Rosehearty Service Award to mark her 5 years as an Officer with the Company. Lynne has made a massive impact in the Brigade over the past 5 years which the Captain believed merited recognition.
Well done Lynne and thank you for all that you do.
The Captain’s remarks can be read below:
“The backbone of this Company is service. I am proud that all of our members, one way or the other, find ways to serve the 1st Rosehearty and to advance it. This is certainly true of our young people, but it is equally true for our officers – each and every one going above and beyond to serve our young people.
Tonight, though, I want to recognise and give thanks for the service of Lynne Bruce.
As this session comes to a close, it marks Lynne’s 5th session in the 1st Rosehearty and in the Brigade itself. She first came forward in August 2019. At that time we had only just got the Juniors up and running but the long-serving Officer-in-Charge of the Anchors – Mrs Maria MacLennan – was retiring. We had nobody to lead the Anchors, the important trunk of the tree that is a BB Company.
That was until Lynne stepped forward. With no previous BB experience her rationale was clear; she wanted her own boys to benefit from the BB and if nobody else was willing to step forward to keep it going, she would.
She had her work cut out for her. When she stepped forward, she probably didn’t expect to be automatically appointed the Anchor’s Officer-in-Charge. I am also certain that she saw through my own lack of experience in Anchors work when I suggested that there was no right or wrong way to run a section but just to do what she thought worked. Whatever she did though, it seems to have worked well and we have one of the most successful Anchors sections in the Battalion. Battalion Champions in 2024!
Of course, we never did get through a first normal year; the pandemic saw to that. With Lynne, Marc and our leaders onside as we entered the pandemic, we tackled it head one and probably came out of it stronger than when we went in. No small part of this was some of Lynne’s ideas where the 1st Rosehearty had BBatHome, even before BBatHome became an actual thing.
When we were able to meet again our Company had grown to three sections, and along with it our officer base, with a Girls’ Association to boot, with Lynne being an officer across all three sections. Lynne has poured in a great deal of time, service and dedication to this Company over the past five years.
At Battalion level too Lynne has made a massive impact. It did not take long for Lynne’s enthusiasm to be noticed at the Battalion and she was quickly appointed to the Battalion Executive. Seeing that she could make a difference, and perhaps spurred on by an obviously unequal offer to the Anchors, she took the chair of the Anchors committee. In that capacity she has been the driving force for ensuring the Anchors get more out of the Battalion. Particularly with not just more competitions, but new competitions. Under her leadership the Anchors now have more equality with the other sections in the Buchan Battalion.
Her service to this Company too is also immeasurable. Lynne is the master of the fundraiser and has led much of our fundraising efforts over the last five years. As she will attest, I’m not a cheap Captain to keep! She will always put the young people first and attends most competitions across all sections – usually with a car full of kids and often a Captain in tow. This Company simply owes her an immense debt of gratitude for all she has done in a relatively short space of time.
I recall recently another Captain in our Battalion secured for himself a new leader. When he spoke to me of this leader he told me how he hoped “she might be their Lynne Bruce”. You know you’ve made it in the Boys’ Brigade when you are recognised as a standard in your own right!
In the Boys’ Brigade, Long Service – or in fact any service for leaders – is first recognised only after 15 years. They like to equate it equivalent to a life service. However here at the 1st Rosehearty we don’t do problems, we do solutions!
I have commissioned and established a new award within the 1st Rosehearty Company. The first is an award for leaders, which will be awarded by the Captain on their completion of five years service. As is clear, Lt Lynne Bruce should not only be celebrated for the quantity of years she has given, but for the quality of her work which has greatly enriched this Company and the lives of the young people within it.
It is with great pride that I call upon Lynne Bruce to come forward to accept the first 1st Rosehearty Service Award for five years service.”
