Band turns to internet for money to compete in national championships

A BRASS band has launched an online appeal to raise £8,000 to compete in a national championship.

Wakefield-based Gawthorpe Brass 85’s senior section has been invited to represent Yorkshire at the National Brass Band finals in Cheltenham in September.

It is the first time the band has made the finals in more than two decades. However, members say that they now need to raise money for transport and accommodation to be able to compete in the event.

A Crowdfunding page set up for the band said: “After 21 years of trying our senior band are delighted to be crowned as the 4th section Champions of Yorkshire in March 2018.

“As a result of this fantastic achievement, we have been invited to represent Yorkshire at the National Brass Band finals. We are completely self-financing as an organisation and we would be hugely grateful for any donation, however small, that you are able to make.”

The organisation, formed in 1985, has a senior band, youth band, training band, music club, music workshop and beginners’ club and is made up of about 150 members.

A spokesman for the band said: “We are proud of being a little different to many other community brass bands.

“We are a family of around 150 people, of all ages, backgrounds and abilities who come together to make music.

“As you may have guessed from our name, we were formed in 1985, and we rehearse in the village of Gawthorpe.”

To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/gawthorpebrass85.