Easington Colliery Band will head to the Royal Albert Hall National Finals next month boosted by a grant of £5,000 from Point North, formerly known as the County Durham Community Foundation

The grant will be used to help fund the travel of the North of England Area Champion as they look forward to representing the region at the contest on Saturday 5th October.

Massive gesture

A band spokesperson told 4BR: "It's a massive gesture of support from the companies behind the Point North Foundation. We thank them very much and it will go a long way in helping the band to perform at the contest.

We hope we can make the Easington community and the North of England proud."