THE global spirit of the Boys' Brigade (BB) community has been captured in a new book, thanks to a Redditch man.

Planet BB: The Boys’ Brigade around the World, is the brainchild of Redditch BB officer David Chant, from Callow Hill, who has been a member of the organisation since he was just 13 years old - more than 40 years ago.

He came up with the idea for the book after starting a hugely popular Facebook site.

The book has been published to raise money for BB companies, mainly in Africa, which are desperate for financial support.

Mr Chant said: “I started a worldwide Facebook group for BB a while ago, and members seemed to really love it and approximately 5,000 people have now signed up.

“When I saw how popular the BB organisation is with so many people, I decided that a book might be a really great idea.

“I hope that people are going to really enjoy it.”

Planet BB, which is published by Brewin Books of Studley, is the first book to look exclusively at the BB all over the world and countries featured include the UK, Republic of Ireland, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Cameroon, Borneo, Australia, and many more.

The chapter on Cameroon was also written by a Redditch BB officer.

Everyone involved has given their time and work for free, including the logo and the website, which was designed by a Sutton Coldfield boy.

Even before the book was published, a total of £2,000 was raised by BB members through events for an orphanage in Uganda.

Books are available to buy through emailing bbworldwidebook@live.com and more information is available at www.brewinbooks.com or www.planet-bb.co.uk.