East Antrim Battalion Heritage Society in fundraising bid for Carrickfergus Boys' Brigade Museum

The Society currently operates a mobile museum, with monthly exhibitions taking place in Larne, Ballyclare and Carrickfergus over the last the last couple of years.

The group has collected over two thousand articles of memorabilia to date, from badges and membership cards to uniforms and photographs.

Many span the 50-year history of the Boys’ Brigade in East Antrim, while some items are even older, dating back 100 years.

In a bid to protect the organisation’s rich heritage and to preserve it for future generations, the group is now seeking assistance in reaching its short-term goal of securing premises for 3-6 months to allow them to organise and catalogue the memorabilia, with a long-term goal of securing permanent premises.

The heritage museum was set up on August 1, 2019.

Chairperson, Drew Buchanan MBE said: “Three of the BB companies in the battalion area had closed and this resulted in a conversation on how we preserve the records and BB memorabilia associated with each company.

"The heritage society became a stand-alone organisation on December 1, 2021.

“We provide ‘pop up’ museum exhibitions displaying items of Boys’ Brigade history to the public. We do this in Carrickfergus, Larne and Ballyclare. This allows us to be accessible and visible to a greater number of local people in these locations, attracting the young and not so young members of the public. We also advertise where Boys’ Brigade companies meet within East Antrim.”

The heritage society then became a charity in May 2023, launching their website www.bbeab.org and beginning the fundraising campaign on July 1.

“We are planning to be opened in the High Street Carrickfergus from October 23, just in time to celebrate the 140th Anniversary of BB,” Drew added.

The Boys’ Brigade was founded in Glasgow on October 4,1883 by Sir William Alexander Smith.

From this one Company formed in Scotland, the BB has grown in to a worldwide movement, having worked with millions of children and young people for well over a century.

The Society is hoping to raise £6,000 to to help open a Boys' Brigade Museum in Carrickfergus.

To support the appeal, visit the GoFundMe page here.