The working party of the UK Banding Umbrella Group, formed out of the Brass Band Summit held in Birmingham in July, met again recently with the aim of making further progress towards a firm recommendation for the forming of a UK wide ‘umbrella group’, operating for the benefit of brass banding throughout the UK.

The group, chaired by Stan Lippeatt (Chairman of the Association of Brass Band Adjudicators), report that significant progress has been made, most notably in the 3 following areas:

1. Structure, Aims and Objectives:

The working party are agreed on the membership structure of the ‘umbrella group’ which they intend to recommend to a recalled Brass Band Summit.

The aims and objectives, together with a proposed mandate for the group will also be presented for consultation when the Brass Band Summit next meets.

2. The Role of Youth:

The working party recognises that the youth of the movement represent a significant constituency, and that as such, there should be a direct involvement and representation of youth within the ‘umbrella group’.

Positive steps will be taken in the coming weeks to bring about involvement from youth within the banding movement, with an open invitation to all youth to become involved.

Ultimately youth representatives will be invited to play a permanent role in the ‘umbrella group’.

3. Funding:

Thus far, the limited funding required for the working party to function has been provided by the members of the working party, or organisations they represent.

The working party recognises that funding will be a key requirement for the future to enable the work of the umbrella group to function, and a proposal to establish funding will be included in the presentation to the recalled Brass Band Summit.

The group, chaired by Stan Lippeatt (Chairman of the Association of Brass Band Adjudicators), report that significant progress has been made4BR

Recalled Brass Band Summit:

It is the intention of the working party to recall the Brass Band Summit during the weekend of the Festival of Brass in Manchester which occurs on 28/29/30 January 2011.

Further details will be issued, along with personal invitations, in due course.

During the recalled Brass Band Summit the working party will present their full recommendations for the formation of the UK Banding Umbrella Group, including an appropriate title for the body, giving full details of structure, funding, mandate, terms of reference, aims & objectives and the timescale over which the new body will be brought into being.

Full consultation will follow the presentation allowing all present, and the bodies they represent to input into the process.

Next Steps:

The working party will meet for a third time in this phase of the planning on Friday 12th November in order to finalise their recommendations and presentation.