After a gap of 23 years, the original colours of 17th Ayr Boys’ Brigade were paraded into Castlehill Church late last year. The flags, originally dedicated in 1969, vanished in 1997 and were presumed lost. However, in 2020 they were found amongst the possession of a former member of the company who had died.

The present BB captain, Ian McQueen, said that the man, who had been in care locally as a boy, had had mental health problems, and had died without any known family. He said after the funeral that he had spoken to the man’s social worker: “The principal thing I wanted them to know was that I didn’t regard (him) as a thief. He had wanted a memory of the happy times he spent at Castlehill, and no matter how misguided the act of removing the colours was, it was a means to tangibly hold on to his happy memories from his childhood. The other very important thing I wanted them to know was that having had a 23-year old mystery solved, brought a great deal of closure for me.”

He also said that it was proof of the impact that work with young people can have. “We may not know the importance of the impact we have on any individual while we work with them, we just have to have faith that we are making a difference. Most boys who go through the Boys’

Brigade will benefit from their membership of our organisation, others will be changed by their membership.

The importance to this boy of the Boys’

Brigade can be measured by his desire to have a permanent reminder of his time with us by removing our colours.”