Imy, a Young Leader at 1st Hull, planned a Bring a Friend night in September. During their evening, they started by learning about the Bible and what it teaches about friendship, followed by some fun games and craft. For their craft the group made friendship bracelets from leftover baubles and wool, which tied into their current badge work on Climate Change and Environmental Justice. They finished their night with decorating buns, and all the girls who attended left with a goody bag! Risa, a GB member, tells us 'I enjoyed the Bring a Friend night and decorating the cakes. My friend enjoyed it. I was glad to share GB with them.'
1st Seahouses Girls' Brigade held a Bring a Friend evening, and had 4 new girls and another 1 girl the week after! The group had a great night, playing games and having snacks. The leaders were so pleased to see the girls were keen to learn more about what Girls' Brigade is all about, and their enthusiasm is clear as they have attended each week since, and hope to become members! Parents have told the leaders 'it is lovely that there is somewhere for the girls to go and have social time while learning in a relaxed way.'
In October, 3rd Plymouth hosted a Bring a Friend night where the girls played different sports games, learning about David and Goliath, and decorating biscuits and making them into medals! The night resulted in 2 new girls and 1 new volunteer who have returned each week since and are completing forms to join!
67th Birmingham held an event for ages 4 and over! The night was very popular, they had 11 friends come along for the evening and have retained 6 of them, 3 n:vestigate, 2 n:gage and 1 n:counta! The girls made firework crackers, played dressing up team games and took part in apple bobbing. They enjoyed hot dogs, burgers and cake, and finished the evening with sparklers!
1st Medomsley sent out invitations to members and advertised the evening on Facebook. The Bring a Friend night was Hawaiian themed, they looked at devotions based on 'Waves In Life', made fruit kebabs and made leis and 'grass' skirts! Of the 5 girls who attended, two have returned since the night, and all of them told leaders they enjoyed the night. A parent of a friend who attended tells us 'she had a great time and will definitely be back next week.'
Finally, 8th Portsmouth Girls' Brigade held a bring a friend night at their usual meeting place and had 5 girls join them! The group had a great evening, their activities included creating friendship profiles, scratch art, a Bible story about friendship, snacks, and lots of games. They also did news time under the parachute! Catherine, Team Leader, says 'We had a great time at our Bring a Friend night. It was lovely to see some new faces and to see our girls showing GB off to their friends.' Out of the 5 friends who attended, 1 girl has started to come to Girls' Brigade regularly, and 2 are interested in coming along! The group have decided they will definitely hold another Bring a Friend event in 2026 as it helps to recruit new members whilst raising awareness of GB.
These examples show how fantastic Bring a Friend evenings are for recruiting new members. For more information and resources on how to host your own night, you can find them here!
