Buckie BBs roll out red carpet for Malaysian guests
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THE reputation of a Buckie-based youth organisation has taken on a global reach thanks to a phone call out of the blue.
1st Company Buckie Boys’ Brigade found themselves rolling out the welcome mat to five BBs and two adult officers from the South East Asian nation of Malaysia.
Buckie BB Company Captain Alan McIntosh said: “I got a call out of the blue from BB UK saying that seven people from the Malaysian BBs were coming over to see what the Brigade was like in this country and could we organise a programme for them.
“They’d heard about the Buckie Company and the work we do here and wanted to visit.
“One challenge we had was that the only time our Malaysian guests could manage to come to Buckie was when most of our boys were in school. However, I managed to arrange for some of our Queen’s Men to be there and we started off in the South and West Church with a presentation about the Company and then a talk on our successful Facebook page from our social media manager Allan Cowie.
“There was a display of old BB badges in the hall and, after some sandwiches, they paid a visit to Buckie RNLI lifeboat station which they thoroughly enjoyed. We’re very grateful to Buckie RNLI for their invitation and spending so much time with out guests.
“They also paid a visit to Buckie Community Shop where they were looked after by Jane Murray and her team. Many thanks to them, too.
“We were delighted to have them and they were a credit to their Company and country.”
Mr McIntosh added that an invitation had been extended to the Buckie Company to send representatives over to Malaysia in 2020 to visit.
The Malaysians' itinerary also saw them visit the home of BB founder Sir William Alexander Smith in Thurso, head to Glasgow where the first Company was formed and the current Brigade secretary in Edinburgh.
