Brass Band England has received grant help to continue the essential digitisation work it is undertaking with its curation of the Brass Bands Archive.
The archive consists of music, programmes, books, recordings and memorabilia covering all aspects of brass band history.
Grant help
The grant of £3,000 will be used to further the process which will see its most fragile items recorded in a secure format for future generations to explore and enjoy. The award comes from TownsWeb Archiving, an organisation specialising in this area of expertise.
Over the last few years volunteers working with Brass Bands England have worked to both protect and curate 75% of the archive thanks to support from Arts Council England.
The TownsWeb grant is the start of the project's next phase, which will eventually see the archive reopen to the public. Items will be housed at Heritage Quay in Huddersfield with a launch exhibit planned to coincide with the Yorkshire Area contest in March 2023.
Enormous project
Speaking about the latest development, Alex Parker, BBE Partnership & Relationship Development Manager told 4BR: "We are grateful to TownsWeb Archiving for this grant. With approximately 180,000 items to digitise, this is an enormous project expected to take several years.
However, this assistance will enable us to make digital records for all the most fragile items, helping to secure access to the collection for years to come."
However, this assistance will enable us to make digital records for all the most fragile items, helping to secure access to the collection for years to comeAlex Parker, BBE
Valuable resource
Alex added: "This first set of digitisation records will also allow us to make many of them available online for the first time for researchers, the public, and our community to help inspire bands across the country to expand their repertoire.
We hope that further funding will be available to continue the project and invest in this valuable resource."
Find out more
To find out more about the Brass Bands Archive, please visit the Brass Bands England website.
