The Big Brother Movement celebrates its centenary

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Another nice story I read this morning concerned the centenary celebration of an organisation called the Big Brother Movement (BBM). Between 1925 and 1982, 15,000 boys from the United Kingdom migrated voluntarily to Australia. They were known as Little Brothers. Some were as young as 14. They were put in the care of adult supervisors or Big Brothers. In the early years, most of the boys wanted to become farmers. They were taught basic farming skills on a training farm near Parramatta before being assigned to rural properties. In later years, the boys were typically in their 20s and looking for city work rather than farming. Many found life very hard in those days, especially in the country areas. Identical twins, Alex and Alistair Macdonald, came to Australia in 1955. Later, their parents and three siblings would follow them. There are now around 100,000 descendants of the Little Brothers. Following changes to Australia’s migration laws, the organisation eventually became the BBM Youth Support, sponsoring young Australians to travel overseas to further their careers. This year, the BBM is celebrating its centenary with reunions being held in most Australian states.