2013 marked the 130th anniversary of the Boys Brigade being founded, by William Alexander Smith, in Glasgow in 1883.

It was a busy year and the 46th took part in a number of activities to mark the occasion.

The Boys entered a 'penalty shootout' competition with Boys from BB companies across Aberdeen. This was held at the Sports Village and saw the Boys take penalties against a goalkeeper from Aberdeen FC, cheered on by Angus the Bull and Lewis MacDonald, MSP.

The Boys were all treated to a piece of cake that had been designed by one of our own Boys, who had entered a design competition earlier in the year.

We also had a visit to Pittodrie to watch Aberdeen FC play.

Our Officers attended a Church Service at Queen St Church to mark the 130th Anniversary and a civic reception held at the Town House, hosted by Aberdeen's Lord Provost.

We held our own annual dedication service at South St Nicholas along with the Girls' Brigade, it was good to see some past members come along to the service as well. The Boys were praised for their good behaviour, with some helping our Minister with items during the service.

Other activities that we took part in included a visit to a fire station. This was great fun, with the Boys having a tour of the station and getting a chance to see the various tools that the firefighters use as well as getting to sit in a fire engine. The highlight of the night was when the Boys each had a turn using the hose.

We had our usual Halloween Party, with Boys 'dooking' for apples and using toilet paper to dress up the Officers as mummies.

To celebrate St Andrews Day we had a Scottish Night, where Boys learnt about who St Andrew was and took part in all things Scottish, we had some Boys in kilts and participated in our own Highland Games, with 'welly boot throwing' and 'tug of war' featured. The Boys also tasted some Scottish delicasies - Haggis, Tunnocks Tea Cakes and Irn Bru!

We had our Christmas Party which featured the usual games along with a Christmas movie finishing off with party food and ice-cream. As a Christmas treat, our Junior Section went on a cinema trip to see Walking with Dinasaurs (3D), which they thoroughly enjoyed.

Following on from the visit to the Cinema, the Juniors learnt more about dinosaurs with them all making wooden models of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and digging for fossils in our own rock.

In February we had 2 events that members of the 46th attended. The first was a Battalion Anchor Boys' Fun Day at HQ. This was a great day out with Boys taking part in team games, painting, bouncy castle and were entertained by a magician.

The second event saw our Junior Section enter the Batallion uni-hoc competition, playing against other Boys from across Aberdeen at Danestone Community Centre. Although we did not win, the Boys acquitted themselves well and are busy training for next years event.

The Junior Section again this year entered the Battalion's Bisset Trophy competition. This saw the Boys compete against teams from other BB Companies in a variety of events including figure marching, potted sports, team races and a quiz. The Boys won the figure marching section, having completed the set routine without error and to a very high standard. And for the second year in a row one of our Boys won the individual crafts competition. Overall the 46th finished 2nd and went home with the runners up trophy.

For Easter, our Boys entered the Battalion's Colouring In Competition, having to paint and colour an Easter Chick. Two of our Boys won prizes for their respective age groups.

With this year saying the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, we had the Boys take part in a number of related activities. We visited the new Aquatics Centre in Aberdeen to see Scotland compete in the Commonwealth Water Polo Championships.

Our Boys received a certificate for designing a poster which was to feature in the athlete's village during the games. The Boys' poster welcomed the competitors from the country of Malaysia to Scotland.

Some of our older Boys visited the theatre to see one of our officers, Andrew, perform in the Student Show's production of 'Wullie Wonkie and the Fine Piece Factory'.

Our final outing of the year was to Battalion HQ, where all of our Boys took part in a Commonwealth Games themed fun day. Events they competed in included mini versions of Javelin, Shot put and Discus. There were also individual and team races, with plenty of gold medals up for grabs.

The session finished with our Open Night, our annual display to which parents and friends are invited to come along and see the work of the Boys. This was an enjoyable evening with a figure display, games and races and the Anchor Boys dressing up as their favourite superhero for a song and dance routine. The evening finished with the Boys receiving their badges they had worked hard for throughout the year.