Barnardo’s Brass Appeal

Barnardo’s Brass is a unique fund-raising initiative that aims to unite the musical heritage of one of the UK’s largest children’s’ charities with brass bands throughout Britain. BFBB is supporting the Barnardo’s Brass Appeal which officially launched on 1st January 2009

Dr. Thomas Barnardo was a true visionary in his acknowledgement of the benefits that music training and music making could bring to the young and deprived children in his homes. Today it is generally accepted as a means of developing the potential of all children whatever their background.

Historic archives show that Barnardo’s Homes originally located in East London had several marching bands, which played for the local community and on special occasions. The more talented musicians were chosen and formed into smaller ensembles called “Musical Boys”. They travelled throughout the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries raising much needed funds.

How can you help?

 By visiting the Barnardo’s Brass Appeal website

 By organising a fund-raising concert in aid of the Barnardo’s Brass Appeal

 By attending a fund-raising concert in aid of the Barnardo’s Brass Appeal

The organisers of the Barnardo’s Brass Appeal will be happy to help with the development of your event ideas and can support you in a number of ways. Previous Barnardo’s Brass Appeal concerts have helped to develop new partnerships between a number of organisations who see the value of the project.

All Party Parliamentary Group

The newly formed All Party Parliamentary Committee on brass bands is gaining pace with its second meeting taking place earlier this month in the Houses of Parliament

The British Federation of Brass Band’s Chairman, Robert Morgan MBE was in attendance along with Treasurer, Nigel Morgan and myself. The group’s Chairman, Jeff Ennis, MP for Barnsley & Mexborough welcomed a good gathering of MPs and members of the House of Lords.

Robert Morgan explained to the delegation that following advice from Arts Council Yorkshire and a meeting organised by Jeff Ennis, the BFBB were now putting together an application for further funding to engage another full time employee to liaise with all the regional arts regions and to assist bands with the preparation of lottery applications. Arts Council money is available for bands and bands need to progress applications next year.

The meeting decided that next it was a good time to question the BBC over its support of bands and it is planned that a delegation from the parliamentary group led by Jeff Ennis, will question the BBC on its input to brass bands and support from the BFBB’s member bands will be gained as discussions continue.

Further meetings of the parliamentary group will take place in the next 12 months along with a possible concert to showcase bands in Portcullis House.

Commenting on the success of the meeting, Robert Morgan said: “This was an excellent meeting and an opportunity for the BFBB to present a united brass band voice to the all parliamentary group. I do feel that this group of influential people can open some doors for us; Arts Council first, the BBC next! The opportunity given to us by Jeff Ennis is one to be nurtured during the next 12 months and bandsmen and women throughout the UK are urged to encourage their MPs to become a member of the group.”

With the support of the parliamentary group and the co-operation and hard work of the BFBB, new doors are being opened for the brass band movement, including possible further funding for brass bands from the Arts Council.

Formation of a Cross Party Parliamentary Brass Bands Group

Jeff Ennis, MP for Barnsley East and Mexborough, has really been a great friend to brass bands in this country. Other MPs and members of the House of Lords are taking a healthy interest in his message; a wider participation of people in brass bands. So much so, that they have formed a cross party parliamentary Brass Band Group. Over thirty Lords and MPs are now signed-up to the group and the list is growing. Some, such as Lord Foster of Bishop Auckland, have campaigned on behalf of brass bands for many years but others are gaining a fresh insight into this vibrant art form. A list of those MPs and Lords that are members of this group will be published on the BFBB website soon.

 

The inaugural general meeting of the group was held at the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday evening, 8^th July 2008. I was asked to attend on behalf of BFBB. After the election of the various officers I gave a brief overview of banding in general and the work of BFBB in particular. BFBB was then asked to perform the duties of group secretariat, to which I readily agreed. Meetings will be held at the Houses of Parliament twice a year. It will be a wonderful platform to air the views and discuss the issues that matter to the brass band sector.

 

This is an opportunity to be grabbed by brass bands, when the list is published, take a look at it and if your MP isn’t on it, write a letter urging him or her to join the group. This group will be able to influence decisions taken in parliament that will affect the future of all British brass bands.

Our Creative Talent

A major national conference, entitled ‘Our Creative Talent’ was hosted at the Barbican centre, London on 1^st & 2^nd July 2008 by DCMS, ACE and VAN. The focus of the event was to launch new research that looks in detail at the size make-up and impact of the voluntary arts sector and its potential for growth. On the agenda were also discussions and presentations about the significant contribution that participation in the arts makes to local communities. Of course brass bands are right at the heart of many of our communities and that is why I attended the event.

 

The keynote speakers were Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Minister for Culture; Alan Davey, Chief Executive, ACE; Robin Simpson, Chief Executive, VAN and Feargal Sharkey, Chief Executive, British Music Rights.

 

Much of Margaret Hodges’ presentation was centred on the recent MacMaster’s report and the notion of excellence. She made a welcome distinction between excellence and elitism and spoke about our nation’s social capital, support for the arts from ACE and local authorities, and the diverse ways in which we all communicate and network in this electronic age.

 

Both Robin Simpson and Feargal Sharky called for the recognition that arts groups, including bands, crave for, as well as asking the government for better communication and involvement, support with capacity building and improved innovation and challenges for the sector.

 

So what of the future? Emerging proposals for arts and culture in the 21^st centaury are gathering around the provision of ‘informal adult learning’, that is, finding a balance between the provision for skills and qualifications and the funding of activities for community development. Government, both local and national will be searching for a framework of values that will include the broadcasting media, the use of public spaces and consultation with the voluntary arts sector. A further government report is expected in September 2008 followed by a policy paper that will set out the future vision for Informal Adult Learning.

 

This was truly an inspiring conference. VAN is certainly centre stage to represent the arts at national level, quite rightly so. The brass band sector should be in full support of VAN and congratulate them on a superb event. It was an important day for the voluntary arts, brass bands included, what a pity that none of our so-called band press were there to cover such a significant meeting. Such influential events are vital to the development of banding in the UK.    

One Voice Conference: 14th June 2008

The BFBB One Voice Conference took place on Saturday, 14^th June in Birmingham and delegates from all brass band associations throughout the country were invited to attend. The event was skilfully chaired by Paul Hindmarsch and over thirty delegates participated in the presentations and wide-ranging discussions.

 

The presentations covered a number of salient issues for brass bands and particularly focused on links with local authorities and local communities. Ian Carter from the Southern Counties Amateur Brass Band Association, Peter Fraser from the Scottish Brass Band Association and Louise Renshaw from Macclesfield Youth Band all spoke about the promising initiatives and developments in their associations and bands, while Alun F Williams of Greater Gwent Music Services and Steven Legg of Gloucester Music Services gave fascinating insights into their work and the connections that bands could make in this sector.

 

The evaluation forms for the conference have been handed to me and they make vary encouraging remarks, many congratulating the BFBB on running a superb event and asking for an annual seminar. I am happy to echo their sentiments. For those who attended, it was informative, thought provoking and constructive; for the BFBB, it was a successful event which should be repeated annually. A detailed report about the conference will be made available from the BFBB after further evaluation.

Meeting with ACE: 6th May 2008

On Tuesday, 6^th May 2008, I attended a meeting with Mr Alan Davey, ACE Chief Executive, Mr Jeff Ennis MP, Bryan Catcheside, Musical Director of Ascot Brass and other representatives of the Brass Band sector and ACE. This was a worthwhile meeting where the following points were discussed:

• Grant applications and the nature of the complicated form. Mr Davey told the meeting that only 16 applications had been received from the brass band sector in 2007 (including BFBB’s for the 2007 European Championships) whereas there had been over 100 from small jazz groups and organisations.
• Social inclusion and a wider participation agenda
• Lottery funding
• Youth and training bands
• The ‘take it up’ scheme

 

There was a sense that the points we raised were received by ACE with sincerity and consideration. Mr Catcheside noted that ‘It is clear that there has been a legacy of suspicion regarding the funding of brass bands stemming from an impression that lottery money made available to bands in the past was squandered rather than used wisely’.  The ACE representatives recommended a central organisation, namely the BFBB, should provide a conduit for advice regarding applications for funding. BFBB is seeking further meetings with ACE to expand this proposal into a useful tool for bands.

Moreover, BFBB will need to work closely with ACE to provide a channel for applications and introducing a form of self-regulation within the brass band sector to provide evidence of wise use of allocated funds.  As with all financial initiatives, a demonstration of secure procedures is more likely to attract funding.

 

National Government & Brass Bands

(1) Arnold Tattersfield and I held a meeting with Mr J Ennis, MP for Barnsley East and Mexborough, on Friday, 7^th March 2008 at the National Office. Matters discussed included:

• The role of BFBB 
• Mr Ennis’ recent delegation meeting with the Minister for State for Culture Media & Sport 
• Funding issues for brass bands 
• The direction of further funding campaigning
• A forthcoming meeting arranged with the Director of Yorkshire Forward 
• The Voluntary Arts Network (VAN) 
• 2012 Cultural Olympiad

 

Following the successful meeting Mr Ennis asked a question in the House of Commons on Monday, 10^th March 2008, which was subsequently broadcast on BBC Radio 4:

 

          Jeff Ennis (Barnsley East and Mexborough) (Lab):

Does the Secretary of State agree that the British Federation of Brass Bands, which is based in Barnsley … will play a vital role in making a success of the Cultural Olympiad?

 

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Andy Burnham): It absolutely will … On brass bands, I am absolutely confident that the rich heritage that my hon. Friend describes – celebrated in the film “Brassed Off” – will play a very important part in our Olympic celebrations.

 

(2) I was then invited to join Mr Ennis’ delegation to meet The Director of Yorkshire Forward. The meeting was held in their offices in Leeds on Monday, 17^th March 2008. Issues discussed were:

 

• Justification for supporting bands
• Business Models for bands
• 2012 Cultural Olympiad
• Youth bands/KS2 (Barnsley’s £250,000 programme and the infrastructure required to deliver in the future)
• University selection/Fairness in higher education/Widening participation agenda
• Loss of sponsorship for Championship bands

 

Once again this was a meeting with some success. Yorkshire Forward will fund/advise (probably BFBB) on a programme of Business advice and planning for brass bands. Also funding for some events connected to 2012 Culture Olympiad (through Yorkshire Culture). In a surprise move Yorkshire Forward said they would fund Grimethorp Band to the Europeans this year at £20,000 and for a further two years if it is a Yorkshire band that represents England.

 

 

Barnsley Council and Brass Bands

On Wednesday, 12th March 2008 I had a meeting with Mr G Noble, Chief Officer for Culture Media and Sports at Barnsley Council at the council offices. Also present was Ms Helen Ball, Arts & Culture Strategy Manager for Barnsley Council. Items discussed included:

 

• The role of BFBB
• National matters for brass bands
• Local bands and their activities
• Local government funding issues for the Arts & Culture in general and for brass bands in particular
• Cultural action in schools and education and how brass bands may be involved
• The new initiative to ensure that children receive five hours of cultural education each week
• The idea of a Youth Development Plan for brass bands possibly linked to National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs)
• An inclusion of brass bands/brass music education/brass band events in the Arts & Cultural Strategy of Barnsley Council (Currently under review and being re-written)

 

I was pleased to received an undertaking from Ms Ball that BFBB will be asked to all relevant meetings/events held by Barnsley Council regarding Culture, Heritage and Music in the future.