Making Our Band Hut Accesible For All

We’re incredibly proud to have completed a major project to make our band hut a more accessible and welcoming space for everyone in our community. Thanks to the fantastic support of our members, friends and local community, we raised an amazing £5,000 through our Advent Challenge, charity single and 24-hour Playathon. This was followed by a further £20,000 award from The National Lottery Awards for All, allowing us to make some truly transformative changes to our building.

The work included creating an entirely new accessible pathway and entrance to avoid the existing steps, widening internal doorways, and installing a brand-new accessible toilet. These improvements mean that more people can now access and use our band hut comfortably and independently — whether they are coming along to play, learn, rehearse, perform or simply be part of band life. Brass bands should be places where everyone is welcome, and removing physical barriers is an important part of making that a reality.

We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who donated, took part in our fundraising events or supported the project, as well as the fantastic local tradespeople who helped bring it all together. A very special thank you goes to our own cornet player Richard Goude, who oversaw the project and put an enormous amount of time, effort and hard work into making it happen.

We’re delighted that our band hut is now a space that can welcome more of our community through its doors — because music really should be for everyone