The Barnsley Chronicle has come to the rescue of a brass band hit by a double-blow to its finances.
The Barnsley Building Society Band came second in a competition at Pontin’s in October but still hasn’t been paid the £1,350 prize money because Pontin's went into administration days after the contest.
And to add to their woes, Yorkshire Building Society, which took over the Barnsley Building Society, told the band their 21-year sponsorship deal was to be terminated.
But the Chronicle stepped in with a new sponsorship deal, and they will now be known as The Barnsley Chronicle Band.
Editor Robert Cockroft said: “Brass music is at the heart of the town and in many ways symbolic of it. Barnsley is having a tought time all round and it seemed important to us to help keep this fine band going.”
Pete Webster, the band’s chairman and trombone player said he was ‘delighted’ with the news.
“Last week really was a double blow for us, finding out we were unlikely to receive our prize money, and at the same time losing our sponsorship. But this is certainly much better news.”
The band was founded in 1906 as Birdwell Brass Band. A few years later they took up sponsorship from the nearby colliery to become Barrow Colliery Band, under CISWO. This continued until the pit closure programme took hold and in 1989 became Barnsley Building Society. In the 1980s, its junior band was sponsored by the Barnsley Chronicle.
In 1998 the band was chosen to play at the world premiere of the stage version of Brassed Off, at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. The show's posters still adorn the walls of their practice room, on the grounds of Worsbrough Miners' Welfare. The band’s first major appearance as the Barnsley Chronicle Band will be the Yorkshire Area finals of the British Brass Band Championships, at Bradford’s St George’s Hall in March.
