At band practice on Tuesday 6th October, St John’s Church Band were surprised by a visit from the retiring Ashton & Mossley District Charity Steward, Brian Reynolds. The band’s conductor, John Neary, was presented with a cheque for £1,000.00 from the East Lancashire Masonic Charity’s Community fund. In this case, the grant has been given specifically for the upkeep of the Band’s instruments.
The Leader of the band, Peter Douthwaite, said, “This is a much needed boost for us. In recent months we have been forced to refuse bookings due to a lack of players. An unusually high number of our members have been unable to attend for various reasons, including personal and family illness.” At one point, Mr Douthwaite was forced to issue an appeal for players on local television. Fortunately, “the band is now back up to full strength and are looking forward to our winter engagements, which will include a Christmas concert at Prince Alfred Lodge in Mossley.”
St John’s Church Band are well known in the Southern Area, playing to large audiences at outdoor concerts throughout Tameside in the Summer months. They are one of the stalwarts of the Whit Walks Band Contest and have even appeared in an episode of Channel 4 Television’s “Come Dine With Me.” I am sure that we will all wish the band long and continued success in the future, and hopefully this grant will help with that process.
All of the photos taken on the evening can be found in a Photo Gallery at https://goo.gl/photos/W2HQ1ukYYoiQmM7RA
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