Nick Eastwood, principal trombone with Cheltenham National Finalists, York Railway Institute, has certainly doing his bit to help raise funds to help his band make the trip to what will be their third consecutive Finals appearance.

In the saddle

A keen cyclist between conducting the RI Golden Rail Band and Development Band has spent the last four days in the saddle from York to the Centaur complex in Cheltenham raising sponsorship funds.

Back for practice

Nick finally arrived at the famous racecourse on Monday and just had enough time to have his picture taken for posterity, before riding back to the local railway station and enjoying a more comfortable ride home in the train.

Amazingly, he was back in time to make for band practice!

That shows amazing dedication and commitment to the band, so it will be the least I can do to provide him with a comfortable cushion for him to sit on!MD, Gordon Eddison

True bandsman

MD Gordon Eddison told 4BR: "Nick is a true bandsman. He works so hard with the three bands here and then on his own rides down the country to raise money for us, then rushes back to get to band practice on time too!

That shows amazing dedication and commitment to the band, so it will be the least I can do to provide him with a comfortable cushion for him to sit on!"