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Central Church supports the Band throughout the year so it was great to hear that we helped them raise over £500 at our last concert. It was a great concert with solos provided by Theresa with Sally and Max. Justine played a wonderful rendition of Over the Rainbow and John and Hannah played Ray’s arrangement of You Don’t Send Me Flowers Anymore (though John insists that this is not true). The concert ended with the beautiful piece Guardian of My Soul by Darren Shaw followed by the traditional Nightfall in Camp. Back by very popular demand was Floral Dance to send every one out on a high note. Please go to our Gallery page and look for ‘Central Church Concert in the sub menu to see media from the evening.

Within the Band, remembrance is a massive priority. We are also keen to promote brass bands and remembrance within the youth of our local area. One of our members recently organised an afternoon at the D-day slipways at Beacon Quay in Torquay for a year group in his school. Our MD was pleased to go down and sound the Last Post whilst they placed a wreath on the memorial.

The slipways in Torquay are one of a pair built in May 1943 by the Royal Engineers for the D-Day embarkation of troops. The men of the U.S. 77th Infantry Division, destined for Utah Beach, embarked from here and many did not set foot on land again. On the 6th June, the Band will be remembering these soldiers and many like them at a service at Beacon Quay (outside the Harvester on Torquay Harbourside).

Congratulations to our band member and resident singer, Theresa, who completed the 26 mile Royal Parks Challenge. She ended up walking 29 miles (due to protests) in the rain and raised the amazing sum of £1000 for Battersea Dogs’ Home in memory of her dog Fozzie. Well done Theresa!

Our second concert this year was at the wonderful Parish Church in St Marychurch. The Band were raising money towards a project to bring back some very historic and important art to the Church. The Band were joined by Sally and Max and played some great numbers to another fabulous audience.

Here are some photos from our first concert of the year in the wonderful Parish Church in Chudleigh. The concert was arranged by our percussionist Roger Biggin to help support the work of these two brilliant charities. We had a fabulous audience and raised £1000! Thank you to everyone who supported this event and a big thank you to Roger for organising this .

Well done to Garry who was voted Band Person of the Year and received the Malcolm Nellist Memorial Cup at last night’s concert. The Chairman presented Garry with the cup, saying that Garry is often the first at rehearsals and concerts setting up and often the last to leave as he is putting away and tidying up. He is also at every rehearsal and concert parping away with a smile on 2nd horn. Well done Garry!

This year’s Festival of Remembrance was a great success, raising £672.69 for the Torquay branch of The Royal British Legion. Central Church was packed for the event and we would like to say a special thanks to all the cadet organisations, military associations and the RBL under the direction of Dave Tribble who supported the event.

The Band were also involved in a number of other remembrance events including remembrance at Torquay United’s match against Yeovil, St Marychurch remembrance service and Torre Churchyard remembrance service where the men whose bodies were never found are remembered. We also supported both Torquay Cenotaph events on the Saturday (with the Archbishop of Canterbury) and Sunday. You may have spotted our MD Mike Griffiths on Spotlight.

Last Saturday saw the Band joining with the Torbay Police and Community Choir at Paignton Parish Church for the launch of the poppy appeal for The Royal British Legion (Paignton Branch). We had a fantastic evening with a lot of great music making and some really rousing music with both Band and Choir joining together. Please support the work of the British Legion and buy a poppy. Poppies are not worn to support war; they remember the Fallen and help those who live with the scars of war in trying to maintain our peace.