Another band that has also gained some high profile coverage for its community activities is Silk Brass, who was featured on North West Tonight this week.

Members of the band gave up their time to undertake 14 performances in just five days at Care Homes in the Macclesfield area.

Even though the band hasn't rehearsed together as a full band since March they took the decision to bring some festive joy to their community despite the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

On tour

Band Chair, Stephen Bridgehouse told the presenter that at this time of year they usually performed at concerts, supermarkets and churches, but as the diary was empty they decided go 'on tour'. "It's been really, really difficult, so we decided to do something nice,"he said.

The wonderful commitment was certainly appreciated by their audiences. "It was a very special, very wonderful,"one care home resident said, "…the essence of Christmas".

It's made a big change. It's been really happy for us to see. This has been amazing for themStaff at Ashfields Care Home

Amazing

The staff at the Ashfields Home said that it had also provided a huge boost to their resident's well being: "It's made a big change. It's been really happy for us to see. This has been amazing for them."

As Band Chair, Stephen Bridgehouse added: "We just wanted people to realise that actually Christmas was going ahead — it was just going to be a little bit different this year.

Their performance of 'Joy to the World' to close was very apt…

To enjoy:

Go to 22.20 seconds in:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000qdmg/north-west-tonight-evening-news-17122020