Oldham Band Lees and lockdown
Since lockdown, the members of the Oldham Band (Lees) have stayed in contact by participating in online quizzes and producing remote performances with members of other bands. Some players have shown their support for the NHS by playing during the Thursday sessions and one of our cornet players played the last post at the Royal Oldham Hospital on the anniversary of VE Day.
The Oldham Band (Lees) is a brass band currently based in Scouthead. We often perform concerts and support community events in and around Oldham. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions, the band has been unable to rehearse since the beginning of March. The band currently competes in the championship section which means that the players are accomplished musicians. Several members of the band started playing brass instruments when they were at primary school and have been loyal to the band since it started in 2004. The current members are aged between 14 and 65 and have varied occupations.
We have recently received the first payment from the Co-op local community fund. We are using the funding to strengthen our resourcing of the band. In order that no-one is excluded from being in the band due to financial reasons, we provide instruments for the players to use. These vary in price from £1500 to £8000 and require frequent servicing and repairs. We also need to replace some of the instruments due to wear and tear. Some of the funding will be used to carry out the necessary work. As we replace instruments we either sell them in part-exchange or sell them to youth bands. In addition, the funding will be used to purchase new items of uniform and pieces of music. It is very welcome at the moment as we are unable to earn money from events that we would usually attend.
Author: Jude Gidney - Editor
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