With effect from 2017, the Tuesday night
rehearsal for the Senior Band will move to Monday. The time will
remain the same.
30th
July 2016 - STBB RECEIVES QAVS
On
the 30th July, STBB had its annual awards night, during which
Malcolm & Karen Lewis were presented with the Queens Award for Voluntary
Service on behalf of the band by Her Majesty's
Lord-Lieutenant of the Isle of Wight, Major General Martin White CB CBE
JP.
2nd June
2016 - STBB Awarded QAVS
Shanklin Town Brass Band
is proud
to announce that it has been awarded The Queens Award for Voluntary
Service
The Queen’s Awards for Voluntary Service 2016
Press Release
Shanklin Town Brass Band, in Shanklin, Isle of Wight recognised with
The
Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service for 2016
A voluntary
group from Shanklin who works in the community to promote Brass Band
Music amongst young musicians, has been honoured with the Queen’s Award
for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive
in the UK.
In addition to
providing low cost music tuition to budding musicians at its Saturday
morning Brass Academy, the Band which itself became a charity in 2011,
also supports many other Island charities, and organisations in their
fund raising efforts. The Band’s current home is the Grade II listed
Rylstone Chalet which is currently being restored to its former glory by
a team of dedicated volunteers. The Band is proud to promote both
Shanklin, and the Island whenever it competes in Brass Band Contests on
the Mainland
Malcolm, Karen
and Charlotte Lewis from Shanklin Town Brass Band attended a garden
party at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday 24th May 2016 where
they met the Queen and other winners of this year’s award.
Shanklin Town
Brass Band is one of 193 charities, social enterprises and voluntary
groups to receive the prestigious award this year. The number of awards
given to groups this year is slightly higher than last year, showing
that the voluntary sector is thriving and full of innovative ideas to
tackle community challenges.
The Queen’s
Award for Voluntary Service is the highest award given to local
volunteer groups across the UK to recognise outstanding work in their
communities. The awards were created in 2002 to celebrate the Queen’s
Golden Jubilee and winners are announced each year on 2 June – the
anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation.
Award winners
this year range from a War Memorial Community Trust, providing social
facilities for the benefit of the community in Clwyd, Wales, to a club
enhancing the community by developing individuals through athletics, in
Ayrshire and Arran, Scotland.
Shanklin Town
Brass Band will receive the award from the Lord Lieutenant of the Isle
of Wight later this summer.
The Queen’s
Award for Voluntary Service Committee Chair, former broadcast journalist
Sir Martyn Lewis said:
“I warmly
congratulate all of the inspirational voluntary groups who have been
rewarded for their community work with a Queen’s Award for Voluntary
Service. The judging panel for this year’s awards were struck by the
quality and breadth of all the successful groups.
The thousands
of volunteers who give up spare time to help others in their community
and to help solve problems demonstrate the very best of democracy in
action.”
Minister for
Civil Society, Rob Wilson, said:
“I would like
to congratulate all groups who received this year’s Queen’s Award for
Voluntary Service, in recognition of their fantastic achievements. The
huge amount of work and commitment these organisations put into their
local communities is surpassed only by the passion and motivation of the
individuals who volunteer. I hope these groups continue to inspire
others to get involved and make a positive impact so that we can
continue to build a more compassionate society.”
Chairman of the Band, Karen Lewis said:
"The award
recognises the work, dedication and achievements of the Band since it
was formed 22 years ago. The time and effort given by voluntary
organisations across the Island greatly enhance the community we live
in, and the more people that get involved, the better for us all."
10th
May 2016 -
Chalet restoration: An Update
We
are pleased to announce that Malcolm and his small band of volunteers
have been joined by the Shanklin 'Men in Sheds' who are keen to assist
us with such a worthwhile project.
They have started to help
us by installing a kitchen upstairs, as well as doing some other jobs to
help with the restoration, such as painting, carpentry work and that.
With regards the Seaward
facing side of the building, we have had to repair the damage that was
done by the scaffolding company when they removed the scaffolding.
On the plus side, however, we have now finished installing the scroll
work in the bays, the panels over the cross beams between the top and
bottom posts and we've started painting the main posts that require a
top coat of paint.
Our main attention has
now turned to the front of the building where we have started to remove
some of the rotten timbers from the Bandstand corner and we have been
examining the area to see what work is required to restore that side of
the
building.
6th May
2016 - STBB Wins An Award
Shanklin
Town Brass Band has won an award at the Community Action Awards on the
Isle of Wight.
We came first in the Arts
and Heritage Category
28th
April 2016 -
Chalet restoration:
Floorboards
on Seaward Side Complete
Following the removal of the
scaffolding on the seaward side of the chalet, Malcolm Lewis and
his small band of helpers have now completed the balcony floor on that side
of the building and put the skirting boards around the bottom of the posts.
With a few minor things left to
complete that side, it won't be long before our attention is turned to the
front of the building.
Compare the difference!!
20th
December 2015 - Exam Results Are In
This November we entered eight of our
youngsters for their Associated Board Music Practical Exams
And they all passed!
Three of them even passed with merit!
Here they are pictured with their
certificates
23rd
November 2015 -
Chalet restoration: Removal
of Scaffolding
on Seaward Side
The scaffolding on the seaward side of the
chalet is down, at last!
After all the hard work put in by Malcolm Lewis and
his small band of helpers, the scaffolding on the seaward side has been removed,
which has paved the way for the commencement of the installation of the balustrade and the
completion of the balcony floor on that side.
Compare that to how it was and you'll see what
progress has been made!
Once the 2015/16 winter
season is behind us, we will complete that side and move on to the others!!
18th
October 2014 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY
SHANKLIN TOWN BRASS BAND!!
On the 19th October Shanklin Town
Brass Band came of age and was 21 years old.
To mark this special occasion, Shanklin Town
Brass Band played to a sell out crowd at Shanklin Theatre who were
entertained by the Youth Band, Senior Band and a special Massed Band,
which was made up of the Senior Band and some friends from other brass
bands from around the country.
The Youth Band opened the concert and played
some of their favourite pieces, including Barnard Castle,
Summertime and Bandstand Boogie.
The Senior Band was next, who continued to
entertain the audience by playing some of the popular pieces from their
summer concerts, including The Great Escape,
(which
can be viewed below and
as you will see it ended with Malcolm coming up through the trapdoor on
the stage!)
Reflections and Wandering Star.
One piece that was played, 633 Squadron,
was dedicated to the memory of James Sparks, a former cornet player with
the band who died in 2009 at the age of 17 from Cystic Fibrosis and
whose birthday was also the 19th October.
After a short interval, came the Massed
Band, which was mainly conducted by the Band's President, Dennis Wilby,
and they started by playing Dennis' own arrangement of the song We've
Only Just Begun. Other songs included My Way, Fanfare &
Flourishes and Trumpeter's Holiday (another piece arranged by
Dennis Wilby).
For the last two numbers, Malcolm took over
as conductor and the audience were entertained to a special rendition of
the Bare Necessities and we finished with the piece of music that
used to end the band's concerts for so many years, The Lord of The
Dance.
By popular request the band played an
encore, a piece which is so often requested whenever we play, And All
That Jazz.
Here's to the next 21 years!!
28th
September
2014 -
youth band success AT SCABA
CONTEST
Our Youth Band
took part in the SCABA
Autumn Contest, held at
The Hawth
in Crawley, Sussex - and like the Spring Contest
THEY WON IT!!!
PLUS
They were named as
The SCABA Band of the Year
- FOR A THIRD TIME!
The Shanklin Town Youth Brass Band not
only won their section, but they were awarded the title of Southern
Counties Amateur Band Association's Band of the Year 2014, repeating
the feat they achieved in 2010 and 2012.
Malcolm Lewis, Musical Director, said, "I'm
immensely
proud of our young people; again they all worked so hard in preparation
for the contest. For such a young band to win their section was a great achievement
in itself, but to
be named as Band Of The Year yet again is fantastic!"
They can be seen on 18th October at
Shanklin Theatre as part of the Shanklin Town Band's 21st
Birthday Celebration Concert
23rd
May 2014 -
Chalet restoration:
Installation of
Last 2
Top Posts
on Seaward Side
At last, the last of the new
posts have been installed on the seaward side of the chalet. This
means that we now have six new posts top and bottom, new beams and where
needed new floorboards and supporting beams.
All that remains to do on
that side now is the skirting boards around the bottom of the posts and
the balustrade - and the timber to do all of that is in store at the
chalet. Work will commence on making the bottom rails, hand rails
and individual panels next week for the balustrade, unless we can
salvage any of the existing timber that is.
27th April
2014 - YOUTH BAND SUCCESS AT SCABA CONTEST
Youth Band Very
Happy With Win at Crawley
Some of the youth band
photographed in Rylstone Gardens with four of the trophies they won
In a very hard fought
SCABA
Spring competition, which took place at The Hawth Theatre in Crawley, the Youth Band came away pleased with
their performance
as they scooped no less than
FIVE trophies. Despite playing a technically challenging
test piece, they beat off the competition with a quite an inexperienced band; some of the
players were playing in only their first or second contest.
They achieved:
FIRST place
in the Youth Section, playing the test piece Four Cities Symphony
FIRST place for the March, playing
Slaidburn
FIRST place for the Hymn tune,
playing Crimond
BEST Conductor in
the Youth Section, Malcolm Lewis
BEST Youth
Instrumentalist, Alex Warner on Bb Cornet
Three
Youth Band 'representatives' even went to Isle of Wight Radio a
couple of days later with three of the trophies and recorded an
interview, which was broadcast later. (From Left to Right:
Christopher Sparks Bb Bass Player, Malcolm Lewis Conductor &
Keith Rogers Percussionist)
20th
April 2014 -
Chalet restoration: A Much
Needed Donation Received
A much
needed donation has been received from Shanklin Rotary to help us with the
restoration of Rylstone Chalet, thus enabling us to purchase more timber,
including further floorboards and lots of timber for the balustrade (top &
bottom rails plus the individual panels).
In their
letter, Shanklin Rotary said:
"The key
elements of what you do in the community really registered with the members
of the Rotary Club of Shanklin. Clearly the band itself is an outstanding
asset to the area and it is heartening to see your success in growing
membership. Particularly those of teenage years and younger.
Rylstone
Chalet is an impressive building and it is not only good to see it being
renovated but also to see the work being done by committed volunteers from
our community."
8th
April 2014 -
Chalet restoration:
Installation of
Top Posts
on Seaward Side
Four
out of the six new top posts required on the seaward side of the chalet have
now been made; with
decorative fittings recycled from previous posts where possible.
With the
weather being dry, we took advantage of this to install these new
top posts, which you can see in the photo. Manufacture of the remaining two
has commenced; they need to be treated, primed and undercoated before
installing can take place.
18th
February 2014 - ANDY HARRINGTON
It is with great sadness that Shanklin Town Brass Band announces the
passing of our very good friend, Andy Harrington, Solo Trombone player and
acting Chairman with Tilbury Brass Band.
seen
pictured below.
Having an active involvement in many bands in
his local area, as well as our own, Andy was widely regarded as one of the
truest, loyal and compassionate bandsmen around and he will be truly missed
by all that knew him. Andy defined what true bandsmanship was about but to
many he was also the most true and loyal of all friends.
Our thoughts are with Andrew's family at this
difficult time and we extend our condolences to them.
Malcolm and Karen Lewis said, "He was a great
person who really enjoyed playing with and conducting us last year. This is
very sad and we will miss him dearly."
7th December 2013 -
SURC PACKED OUT FOR Christmas
CONCERT
Shanklin's
United Reformed Church was filled to bursting point for the band's annual
Christmas Concert, with many people having to sit upstairs in the balcony
area.
The audience
enjoyed a varied programme with songs ranging from traditional carols, such
as 'O Come All Ye Faithful' and 'Hark The Herald Angel Sing', to the Andrea
Bocelli song 'Time to Say Goodbye'.
Solo
performances included the theme from the film 'Moon River', performed from
memory by our principal cornet player Kevin Noble, and the hit song 'A
Winter's Tale', beautifully played by our Flugel Player Peter Monk.
Our award winning Horn Section performed 'Angels From The Realms of Glory',
our trombone section headed up the song 'Santa's Little Helpers' and there
was of course a bass solo, which this year was the perennial Christmas
favourite 'Frosty the Snowman', ably performed by Ryan Jones.
Shanklin
Town Youth Brass Band opened up the second half, playing three numbers;
'Mary's Boy Child', 'Silent Night' (which included a solo by 8 year old
Sophie Warner on the Eb Soprano Cornet) and an up beat arrangement of
the carol 'Hark The Herald Angels Sing'.
Audience
members were enthusiastic in their praise of the concert and are looking
forward to seeing the bands again!
4th December 2013 -
Chalet restoration:
Installation of
Entrance Side Guttering
The facia
board on the main entrance side of the chalet has been fully repaired; with
new boards where needed installed and painted.
Consequently, this gave us the opportunity to install the guttering, meaning
that the chalet now has completely brand new guttering.
22nd November 2013 -
Chalet restoration:
Installation of
Seaward Side Guttering
The much needed repairs to the
seaward side facia
boarding have at last been completed and they've been painted.
Today, with
the weather on our side (for once!!), we took the opportunity to install the
new guttering - and very nice it looks too. This will now prevent the
rainwater from going on to the woodwork on that side of the building.
The facia on
the main entrance side of the building will be receiving attention next.
New boards have been manufactured by ourselves and they have been, treated
with preservative and primed. They just need to be undercoated and then
they'll be ready for installing - followed by the new guttering.
19th November 2013 -
James' garden wins an award
The memorial
garden at St Mary's Hospital to our much missed young cornet player,
James
Sparks, tonight won an award at the Island's NHS 2013 Awards Ceremony
It won the
Supporting Excellence in Healthcare (Behind The Scenes) award as sponsored
by Allocate Software and recognised the amount of hard work put in by the
staff of the Children's Ward, together with some willing volunteers, to make
the garden such an enjoyable and relaxing place for the children (and
staff!) on the ward
6th November 2013 -
Chalet restoration: All The
New Posts Are In
The last of
the new posts has been installed on the seaward side of the chalet, meaning
that we have now made and installed six new posts ourselves, as well as
various
other items of woodwork. The metal brackets connecting the new beams
to the ones supporting the balcony have been been refurbished and put back
with new bolts.
The new
guttering has at last arrived and once the much needed repairs to the facia
boarding have been completed and they've been painted, the guttering will then be installed.
18th October 2013 -
Chalet restoration: Four New
Posts Are In
We now have
four new balcony support posts in on the seaward side of the chalet, with three of them
connected by new beams, which we manufactured ourselves, across the top, which in turn have now been connected
to some of the main beams supporting the balcony on that side of the
building.
Progress by
the small band of dedicated volunteer workers, although slow, is looking
good.
New
guttering for the building is on order and once installed will certainly alleviate some of the problems
the building has been having.
27th
September 2013 -
Chalet restoration: The First
New Post Is In!
We
have successfully installed a new balcony main support post!
At last
following weeks of hectic activity by a few dedicated volunteers, supervised
by our MD Malcolm Lewis, the first of the replacement balcony main support posts has been
successfully installed.
We have manufactured a total of six new posts ourselves and with those complete we can now turn
our attention to installing the rest of the new posts, as well as other areas of the seaward side balcony woodwork.
Watch out
for further updates!!
23rd August 2013 -
Opening of James' Garden
We
lost a much loved young cornet player, James Sparks, four years ago at the
age of 17 after a life long battle with
Cystic Fibrosis. He was a regular visitor to the children’s ward at St
Mary’s Hospital, Newport, for sometimes long periods of treatment.
After his passing, his parents Christopher
and Yvonne made a gift to the Children's Ward at St Mary's, which has been
used to help establish a garden in his memory and after a lot of hard work
and planning this was opened on 23rd August by the actor Melvyn
Hayes who now lives on the Island (he starred in one of James' favourite
programmes, the BBC comedy 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum').
One of James great interests was railways and trains.
His enthusiasm inspired the theme for the garden. As you enter the garden
you start a train ride through the countryside to the sea. The garden shed
has been painted and has become the ticket office, which bears his name,
with a platform outside. Street artist Tony
Trowbridge has spray painted a train on one of the walls, together with a
unique Isle of Wight poster. Garden plants in seaside colours take you to
the beach and into the sea. There is even a seagull which ‘flies’ over the
ticket office. The garden furniture and umbrellas complete the colourful
picture. The waste ground is now a delightful area for everyone to enjoy
outside the confines of the Ward.
Pauline
Martin, Ward Clerk on Children’s Ward said, “The time and commitment given
by staff has been magnificent. Their determination to see the project
through, together with the donation from James' parents has enabled us to
create a vibrant living memorial to James."
Before cutting the tape Melvyn gave an excellent
speech about the project and Melvyn Hayes called “A wonderful memorial to
James.”
The Hospital
Executive came and shared in the lovely occasion and the Shanklin Town Brass
Band, of which James was a keen member, played some of
his favourite tunes, including the Great Escape, a tune he used to
whistle whenever he left hospital.
The garden has
transformed a rather dull yard space off the children’s ward and is now a
beautiful quiet space for relaxing (when the helicopter is not landing just
over the wall!).
10th July
2013 - Work Starts on the Chalet
Work has, at last started on
the renovation of the outside of Rylstone Chalet. The pictures below
show the amount of work ahead of us.
Following the receipt of a
grant from the Foyle Foundation, we have bought some timber and are now
able to start the restoration of the seaward end of the chalet.
All the posts supporting the
balcony at this end will need to be replaced and Malcolm (pictured
below) is shown here making the first one.
8th June
2013 - YOUTH BAND RAISES FUND FOR BAND
The Youth Band held a
'Sponsored Blow' at Rylstone Chalet, playing for FOUR HOURS from
ten in the morning until two in the afternoon, to raise some funds
for the band, whilst an open day was held for the chalet.
The award winning youngsters
(and some adult helpers who were also keen to take part), pictured above at the end of their
performance, played a wide variety of numbers ranging from marches to
traditional brass band pieces to film and television themes.
Members of the public could,
in return for a donation:
Choose a particular
piece for the band to play.
Conduct the band
themselves.
Or just sit and listen,
which very many people did.
Some members of the band
took turns it in playing other instruments - while some even had a go at
conducting, finding out that it's not as easy as it looks!!
Sophie Warner conducts the
band
Adam Rogers (our Principal Trombone player in the Youth Band) tries to play
a Flugel Horn while
Peter Monk (Flugel player in the Senior Band) tries to play the Trombone!!
28th April
2013 - SUCCESS AT SCABA CONTEST
Crawley Results
Are In
In a very hard fought
SCABA
Spring competition, which took place at The Hawth Theatre, Crawley, both the Youth Band and the Senior Band came away pleased with
their performances.
The Youth Band was pleased
to have won their section, with a quite inexperienced band; some of the
players were playing in only their first or second contest.
They achieved:
FIRST place
in the Youth Section, playing the test piece Stantonbury Festival
FIRST place for the March, playing
Slaidburn
BEST Conductor in
the Youth Section, Malcolm Lewis
BEST Youth
Instrumentalist, Amber Pierce on Bb Cornet
The Senior Band, playing Olympus,
came 2nd out of 6 bands with a solid performance, beating
some bands that are nationally in higher sections than we are.
Second
Section Results
Adjudicator: Michael Fowles
Place
Band
Conductor
Draw
1
Cranbrook Town
Ian
Lanceley
1
2
Shanklin Town Brass
Malcolm Lewis
2
3
Uckfield Concert Brass
Nick Morris
3
4
LGB Brass
Ian Stewart
6
5
Godalming
David Wright
5
6
Snowdown Colliery
Welfare
Christer Aberg
4
30th
September
2012 -
youth band success AT SCABA
CONTEST
Our Youth Band
took part in the SCABA
Autumn Contest, held at
The Hawth
in Crawley, Sussex - and like the Spring Contest
THEY WON IT!!!
FIRST place
in the Youth Section, playing the test piece A Rural Suite
BEST Conductor in
the Youth Section, Malcolm Lewis
BEST Youth
Instrumentalist, Charlotte Lewis on Solo Tenor Horn
PLUS
They were named as
The SCABA Band of the Year - AGAIN!
The Shanklin Town Youth Brass Band not
only won their section, but they were awarded the title of Southern
Counties Amateur Band Association's Band of the Year 2012, repeating
the feat they achieved in 2010.
Malcolm Lewis, Musical Director, said, "I'm so
proud of those young people; they worked so hard this year in
preparation for the contest. To win it was a great achievement, but to
be named as Band Of The Year again is fantastic!"
Dennis Wilby presents the Youth Band with their
SCABA Band of the Year Shield and Certificate
29th
April
2012 -
youth band STORM TO VICTORY AT SCABA
SPRING CONTEST
Our Youth Band
once again took part in the SCABA
Spring Contest, this time held at
The Hawth
in Crawley, Sussex
- and THEY WON!!!
FIRST place
in the Youth Section, playing the test piece Four Cities Symphony
BEST March in the
Youth Section, with Slaidburn
BEST Conductor in
the Youth Section, Malcolm Lewis
BEST Youth
Instrumentalist, Ashley Wicks on Solo Cornet
Malcolm Lewis said afterwards, "I'm
very proud of the Youth Band winning the contest. For many of the
youngsters, it was their first time on the contest stage and they
played so well."
12th November 2010 - ANDREW
PAYNE
Shanklin Town Brass Band deeply regret to announce
the sad death of Andrew Payne
on 12th November 2010
Andrew, a former helper
with the band, sadly passed away at St Mary's Hospital, Newport at the
age of 84 after losing his battle with ill health. He was a very
popular non playing member who helped the band tremendously.
Shanklin Town Brass Band would like to offer its deepest condolences to
Andrew's family.
At Andrew's funeral Malcolm
Lewis, the band's MD, gave a short tribute to him.
"One nice sunny
afternoon at a band concert, Andrew answered our plea for help on band
nights (e.g. making the tea!)
Andrew was a very
private man, we did not know his age until the first time he went into
hospital. Making the tea soon extended to other things, Andrew and
myself
built the reception area at the bandroom. He also built the
acoustic ceiling screens in the bandroom to improve the sound, which he
did on his own. His willingness to help ended up with him on the
Band Committee where his views and ideas were well respected. In
fact, he won the Chairman's award in 2003 for all his hard work.
Andrew was our
caretaker to the building; he would hoover, paint and change any lights
that needed changing. He was always there to let any visitors in
and show them around. He would also travel with the band to
contests in Brighton, Folkestone and Torquay. He also travelled to
London for the three consecutive concerts we did at Westminster Abbey.
Andrew was always the
first one at band on band nights and if you crept in you would hear him
playing on the xylophone or glockenspiel and even the drum kit. So
much so, if we were short of a percussionist Andrew would always be
willing to help on the bass drum or cymbals. If he knew the words,
he would join in and at times he would even whistle, especially to the
Great Escape!
The band will always
be grateful for Andrew's hard work in our early years. It was his
hard work and encouragement that helped the band to prosper."
28th June 2009 - James Sparks
Shanklin Town Brass Band deeply regret to announce
the sad death of James Sparks
on 28th June 2009, age 17
James Sparks pictured
above receiving the Best Youth Instrumentalist trophy
from John Williams, Chairman of the Southern Counties Amateur Band Association.
James played the Repiano Cornet
Page last updated
05 December 2018
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