About Boys’ Brigade

A background to the Boys’ Brigade and ICONZ in NZ.

The Boys’Brigade (BB) was founded in 1883 by a young Scotsman,   William Alexander Smith, who was seeking to instil some of the discipline and life skills he had acquired from his military training into the boys in his Sunday School class. The concept proved to be highly successful and quickly spread to other countries including NZ where it continued to flourish, withstanding even the war years, growing to 12,000 boys in the 1960’s.

During the period 1970 – 1990, BB experienced a steady decline as a result of the decline of the Christian church in NZ society, a change in parental attitude to military styled youth organisations, and the variety of other activities that boys could be involved in. This resulted in BBNZ developing and launching a new contemporary programme in 2003 called ICONZ, with direct links back to the “Object” of the Boys’ Brigade.

The Maerewhenua Trust link

Upon the formation of the Maerewhenua Trust in 1986, its involvement with BB was to provide and maintain the property in Greenlane, Auckland,  from which the  Northern Region was serviced with administration, training, and physical outdoor camping resources. 

In 2002, BBNZ presented to the Maerewhenua Trust board  a proposal to rebrand BB and launch ICONZ. The board agreed to commit all of  its BB allocation to this project for the subsequent 15 years.

The third phase of the trust’s support commenced in 2017 when it committed to the full and exclusive funded sponsorship of the BB’s annual  National Leadership Development Course, an 8 day residential event based at Rotoiti Outdoor Education Centre. This funding has facilitated a substantial sponsorship of each boy attending the course and further support for boys whose families are unable to meet the course costs.

At the same time, increased surpluses have the enabled the trust board to initiate targetted support for :

  • Duke of Edinburgh Expedition scholarships
  • Outward Bound Course Scholarships
  • Veteran Leader Sabbatical Scholarships
  • Outdoor Equipment Projects

BBNZ is deeply grateful to the Maerewhenua Board trustees for their personal encouragement and the substantial financial support over many years to both the corporate BBNZ and the individual youth who have learnt not only leadership skills, but who have come to experience the wonder and majesty of the great outdoors on offer here in New Zealand.