The Community Action Fund helped Easington Colliery Brass Band travel to London to perform at the National Brass Band Championships.
A £1,715 grant helped cover professional coaching and transport, giving the volunteer musicians the support they needed to represent their village on one of the country’s biggest stages.
A chance the band didn’t want to miss
Easington Colliery Brass Band has been part of village life for more than a century. So when the band became North of England champions for the first time in its 109-year history, it was a major moment for the musicians and for Easington itself.
The invitation to perform at the Royal Albert Hall was a huge achievement. The band also knew it was going to be expensive.
The band needed to cover travel, accommodation and professional coaching. Members and local supporters did what they could. They held raffles, sponsored a 23-mile Three Peaks walk and raised money in the community, but there was still a gap.
The Community Action Fund supports grassroots groups across County Durham and Darlington, using pooled income from Point North fundholders to get funding to local organisations working closest to need. In this case, that meant helping a volunteer-led band take up an opportunity it had earned, without placing all the financial pressure on its members.
Easington Colliery Brass Band’s story: getting to London
The £1,715 grant helped pay for professional conductor Luc Vertommen, who led 10 days of intensive rehearsals with the band. The funding also helped with transport costs. This meant the band could focus on preparing well, rather than worrying about how to pay for the trip.
The musicians went on to perform under the lights of the Royal Albert Hall. For the band, it was the result of years of commitment and for Easington, it became a shared point of pride.
Since then, the band has continued to grow. It has performed with Sam Fender, played full-house concerts, secured new bookings and reported that 30 members improved their skills. And now, the band describe a renewed sense of pride in Easington:
“There’s a feel-good factor here now… The band is playing a large part in turning around the atmosphere in Easington.”
This grant made sure the band could take its place on a national stage
A grant like this is not only about covering a bill. It can be the difference between a group saying no to an opportunity and having the confidence to take it on.
The band had already earned the opportunity and raised what it could locally. The Community Action Fund helped cover the remaining practical costs, so a volunteer-led group could take its place on a national stage.
For Easington Colliery Brass Band, that meant better skills, new opportunities and a moment of pride that belonged to the whole village.