The latest recipient of a £5000 award is the marvellous Lochgelly Band, a community brass band steeped in history which has a bright future thanks to our funding.

The 35-strong band has long-harboured an ambition to launch a youth band and thereby teach, mentor, and develop a sustainable and growing pool of talented young musicians. Initially the plan was hampered because the band needed a music hall after its former home was turned into a food bank. After raising £150,000 to develop a new home in the heart of the Lochgelly community, the band is now ready for this new phase of its 169-year history. 

The funds we will provide will allow it to purchase a set of instruments for the youth players and provide them for free. Normally, learning an instrument is financially prohibitive for many youngsters in this former mining area in Fife as families must pay for lessons and the loan of instruments. Lochgelly Band will now be able to provide this for free.

Lynsey Mcilwraith is principal cornet player and vice chair of the band.

She tells us: “That natural next step for us is the launch of a youth band because if we don’t have one there is no progression for the future and the band may fall by the wayside like so many others have done. Covid finished a lot of bands off, they never recovered. We got through it by playing a lot of virtual concerts which were popular, and it gave us a chance to take stock and fundraise for our music hall. 

“We’ve been working towards launching this youth band for three years and we are launching in 2024, a year ahead of schedule. The Happiness Fund will be used to buy the first set of instruments for it. 

“Lochgelly is not a wealthy town and learning an instrument is not cheap. Our target audience are kids who have had a try, want to play but financially can’t get further. Schools can refer kids to the band.” 

Lochgelly is an old mining town and like many others, the brass band was integral to the town’s mining industry. When a lot of mines were lost a lot of bands closed. Lochgelly managed to survive and is one of the few remaining original mining bands. 

For the current musicians, and the next generation who will be playing on Happiness funded instruments, the band offers more than just music. 

During lockdown its virtual performances helped to alleviate loneliness and isolation by creating events for the community. During a lockdown Remembrance Day ceremony, for example, the band were able to broadcast their concert via the mobile phone of a band member at the town’s memorial. The band’s music hall is at the heart of a residential area and forms a focal point around which the community can gather. The band aims to open the facility up for other community uses.

“Lockdown was torture because we couldn’t see each other,” explains Lynsey. “Everyone is your friend in the band. We see each other two or three hours twice a week, we travel to contests eight or nine times a year and play ten concerts a year. It is such a big part of everything band members do.”

The community and social benefits of being in a brass band are not the only reasons we chose to fund Lochgelly Band. According to a 2019 University of Sheffield study led by Dr Victoria Williamson and Dr Michael Bonshor from the University’s Department of Music, being part of a brass band can have a positive impact on people’s physical, psychological, social, emotional, and spiritual health. Benefits include relief from stress, increased resilience, and improvements to overall mental health. Band members surveyed said being in a band offered a distraction from some of the worries and frustrations of everyday life.