Friends of Aldbourne Band was formed in 2009 to give fans and enthusiasts of the Band a way of expressing their support in financial and practical ways.
The Friends are a Registered Charity No 1144039.
Since its founding the Friends have raised over £180,000 and established a firm membership of over 270 Band supporters.
First call on the funds is supporting the running of the Youth Band, which we are proud to have been very involved in establishing. The Band has also benefited from the purchase of a number of new instruments including recently, two new Eb basses, a euphonium and a set of tubular bells. Friends also provide funding to support the costs of attending major contests.
Members receive three editions per year of a Newsletter keeping them informed of current and future Band events. We have run a highly successful “Proms on the Green” event for several years and have assisted with running important concerts.
The Friends organise low cost transport so members can accompany the Band to contests and concerts. Large contingents have cheered them on to their triumph by winning at the First Section National Finals in Cheltenham in September 2011, in 2016 at their first appearance at the Championship Section National Finals at the Royal Albert Hall since 1981 and four subsequent years, and over 100 supporters were at the Birmingham Symphony Hall to cheer their first appearance in the British Open Championships in 2018. They have qualified again for the National Finals in 2023 and continue in the British Open contest where in 2022 they achieved their highest ever placing in a national contest by coming third.
If you would like to join fellow supporters of the Band and become a member of the Friends please follow the link to Join the Friends
The objectives of the Friends are:
- To advance, improve, develop and maintain public education and appreciation in the art of music in general, by supporting the activities of the Aldbourne Band, in the interest of continuing and extending the opportunities of musicians in the village and surrounding areas, to play in a high quality Band, with expert leadership and to extend their skills
- To enable the people of Aldbourne and district and others to enjoy brass Band music at its best
- To provide organisational and administrative support especially for events to help with the promoting the Band and its public events
- To raise funds to support the running costs of the Band and to invest in new assets, activities and events
- To support the work of the Band to extend the musical education/training of members and potential members and to further such charitable purpose or purposes as the trustees in their absolute discretion shall think fit but in particular through the making of grants and donations
Membership
Membership of the Friends is open to anybody who is an enthusiast for the Band and its music and is interested in furthering the objects of the Friends Members receive three editions of the Newsletter a year which give advance news of the Band’s activities, views and interviews with Band members The Band offer members a ticket concession at one concert a year and low cost transport is arranged to some venues Subscription is set at £10 minimum a year per member
Committee Members:
- Chairman – Alan Phizacklea, a parish councilor, brings a wide range of contacts in the life of the village and further afield to the committee,
- Secretary – Gavin Dixon. Since moving to the village, Gavin and his wife Pam, who is also on the committee, became instant fans of the Band and have been keen to do all they can to support it
- Treasurer – Warwick Hood, a retired senior civil servant and finance economist with a life time interest in music, especially in choirs at the highest level.
- Pam Dixon who, besides working hard at events, assists the Secretary’s work
- Cathy Hughes – Membership Secretary, also a long time resident in the village, a keen choir member and incidentally, mother of Richard Hughes the Principal cornet player
- Don Barnes, a well known figure in the local community, is an Honorary Member of the Friends recognising his work for the Band over many years
- Andrea West one of our best known local artists
- Peter West, former player and retired local businessman
- David Hunter has recently joined the committee and is a respected local businessman and well know figure in the village
- Graham Smith – known to all bandsman as “Smudger”, who played in the Band for many years and is now their property master, an essential role
- Donna Vinnels – who has thrown herself into organising the Tea and cakes stall at the annual Proms on the Green concert, which is a major fund raising activity.