Notes on All Party Parliamentary Group for Brass Bands meeting held on 14th July 2009 at Houses of Parliament.

Attendance List:

Bryan Catcheside, Musical Director of Ascot Brass

Darryl D’Costa, Secretary of Regent Brass

Louise Renshaw, Musical Director and Secretary of Macclesfield Youth Brass Band

Robert Morgan MBE, BFBB Chairman

 Philip Watson, BFBB Development Officer

 The meeting was convened by the chairman at 7:10pm after the Group’s AGM where the following officers were elected:

• J Ennis MP for Barnsley East and Mexborough  – Chairman
• D Heath MP for Somerton and Frome & Lord Jones were elected Vice Chairmen
• Lord Foster of Bishop Auckland was elected Hon. Secretary

Presentations were made by the following three witnesses:

Bryan Catcheside, Musical Director of Ascot Brass, spoke about community bands and why people get involved with brass bands quoting the joy and immense pleasure people derive from the activity. Mr Catcheside explained Ascot Brass band’s activities and how it is organised. It is a registered charity and rehearses in a church hall which costs £18 per rehearsal. The band has sometimes hired a school hall for rehearsals at £40 per hour. Permanent storage for the band library and instruments is non-existent. Instruments cost £60k – £80k for a new set or approximately £20k for a set of second-hand instruments. Music scores cost about £30 per score and there are dues to pay to PRS and concert venues. The band plays most of its concerts for charities and the MD does not take a fee.

Mr Catcheside also spoke about the way many bands squandered money provided by the national lottery in the 1990s and called for future funding to be controlled with criteria which bands should meet to receive funding. He said that BFBB will be the best placed organisation to administer funding for brass bands.

 Mr Catcheside also asked for the sharing of community facilities to assist brass bands.

Darryl D’Costa, Secretary of Regent Brass, spoke about the history and activities of Regent Brass, emphasising the bands involvement in contesting. Mr D’Costa told the Group about the expenses involved in contesting and touring with the band; the band tours in the UK and on the continent which is all financed at the expense of the individual band members. Regent Brass received sponsorship of £1500 over two years in 1985 to form the band. The band is now financed by the players with an annual subscription of £180; there are reduced rates for students, and a small income is made from concerts. Mr D’Costa said that rehearsals cost about £90 per session and there were the other costs mentioned by Mr Catcheside to meet too. Mr D’Costa also spoke about the band’s work for charities, the turnover of players and the detrimental effects on brass band activities of the 2003 Licensing Act.

Mr D’Costa also called for public funding routes to be made clear and accessible and suggested that BFBB would be the best place to target resources to assist bands with their funding issues and aspirations.

Louise Renshaw, Musical Director and Secretary of Macclesfield Youth Brass Band, spoke about the formation of Macclesfield Youth Brass Band, its audiences and its commitment to its players. The band comprises of 100 children aged between 7 and 19 years of age and organised into three groups. All the children pay £1 per week and for that they receive an instrument, uniform, sheet music and tuition.  The band has a high profile in the local community, receives support from parents and is project led; it also works closely with the Local Authority and receives funding from grants that are applied for through its various projects. Ms Rehshaw told the Group about one project in particular that assisted children with asthma to regulate their breathing which in turn improved their health. This project had led to the assistance with other children that have a various number of health issues being taught a brass instrument and which has been successful in dramatically improving their wellbeing. The band receives some funding from their Primary Care Trust for this work. Ms Renshaw pointed out that many children progress from the band into a career in music.

Ms Renshaw voiced concerns over the delivery of the planned taster in schools for children to receive 12 months tuition on a variety of instruments and asked questions about the standard of tuition, how many children would be taught in one class at the same time and what would happen after the period of 12 months had elapsed.

Ms Renshaw was also concerned that the ACE Awards for All scheme approved grants only for new instruments, where as children could learn just as well on good quality second-hand instruments.

Ms Renshaw asked for assistance to identify where to access funds and grants, the timescales involved and the knowledge required for bands to make applications. She suggested that a central source for this information should be established, with the required funding and resources provided, within the framework of the BFBB’s organisation.

Robert Morgan MBE, BFBB Chairman, spoke to the group about youth bands, their organisation, their funding and their links to senior brass bands. He also spoke about some of the many funding issues that face brass bands in the UK. Questions were then taken and the following were discussed: 

• Funding resources
• Funding applications
• Routes to ACE funding
• The decline and loss of sponsorship for brass bands during the current economic climate
• Band subscriptions and the effects of self-funding on individuals, band membership and different socio-economic groups

 Mr Ennis MP, the Group chairman, was pleased to announce that he had received an answer to a question he had made to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport about the awards made to brass bands from the Big Lottery Fund in each of the last five years. The answer is as follows: 

The Big lottery fund has been able to supply the following figures for the value of relevant grants across the UK in the last five years, including grants made under the Awards for All joint scheme.

 

Year	Total Value of Grants (£’s)
2004/2005	81,314
2005/2006	151,542
2006/2007	176,572
2007/2008	109,553
2008/2009	281721

 A joint press release from the Group and BFBB will be made regarding the increase in funding in the next few days.

The Group chairman thanked the witnesses for their presentations and said the next Group meeting will be held in November to which he will invite ACE Chair and CEO.

The Group chairman closed the meeting at 8:00pm