Queens award for brass band contest stalwarts

Proud members of the Saddleworth and Oldham group of Whit Friday Band Contests received The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the equivalent of an MBE, at a special ceremony last night (Tuesday).

The group of volunteers based in the Saddleworth and Lees villages were honoured with the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK, which was presented by DL Shauna Dixon, along with The Queens citation, to Bob Rodgers, chairman of Saddleworth and Oldham Whit Friday Contest Committee, at Uppermill Civic Hall.

Each year, 300 volunteers are involved in presenting the Whit Friday Band Contests at 11 venues in Denshaw, Delph, Dobcross, Diggle, Uppermill, Greenfield, Friezland, Lydgate, Grotton, Lees and Springhead and Scouthead and Austerlands.

There are innumerable hours of commitment needed to provide this spectacular, unique musical event and the  QAVS recognise work by volunteer groups to benefit their local communities.

The awards were created in 2002 to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and award recipients are announced each year on June 2, the anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation.

Spokesman Mr Rodgers, the co-ordinator for the group, said: “Although contests have been in existence for 137 years, this group has functioned since 1993 and we are honoured and obviously delighted to have been successfully nominated for this award.

“The work that is undertaken to provide the ‘greatest free show on earth’ is a 12-month rolling programme.

"To the visitors who arrive on the evening, it appears to ‘just happen'.

“Throughout the area thousands of hours are put into planning and preparation.

“We are indebted to Oldham Council for the infrastructure and advice they provide that only those involved in the running are aware of and the financial support through the Saddleworth and Lees District Partnership, not to mention the numerous businesses who sponsor the individual contests.”

Mr Rodgers added:“The group were told they were being nominated for the award in the Autumn of 2019.

"It is ironic that since then we have been unable to function for the last two years through restrictions imposed by Covid.

“However, we are all looking forward to continuing with this great show in 2022, when hopefully all our banding activity will be back to normal.”

Delph Brass Band, conducted by Phil Goodwin, played a number of popular pieces before the formal presentation.

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