Tyldesley brass band has been in existence over 100 years. In that time they have supported many local events including Atherton Carnival, the Remembrance Day Parade, and Atherton Proms in the Park.

The band have also competed in many competitions.

In March 2024 in Blackpool the band qualified to attend the national brass band finals in Cheltenham. The band previously had never competed at this level.

This set off a whole bunch of fundraising to get the necessary resources in place to attend the national brass band finals.

The BBCT helped with a donation towards their total needed.

Thank you enormously for your very generous donation to Tyldesley Brass Band. As you know we have been awarded a place at the National Finals of GB in September and your gift will go a long way to enabling us to attend that now. I will try to send a good picture of all the band from the day. On behalf of the whole band and all our supporters, thank you again and we hope to support your events for a long time coming.

The band placed 10th out of 19 bands, a fantastic achievement.

We came 10th there, out of 19 bands. Not in the prizes, but considering 2 years ago we had 9 players in the 2nd section and now we came 10th in the UK overall in the 1st section. Something to build on. If we’d have gotten top 3 we would have gone up to the championship section with Faireys, Black Dyke, Grimethorpe etc. Definitely something to build towards in the next few years now we have a thriving band and youth group too, which is something we haven’t had for years so very promising indeed.

And yes, if you recognised the name, Grimethorpe band are the subject of the movie and theatre production Brassed Off. A sign that Tyldesley are now hitting in the big league.

Even before all this happened the Tyldesley Brass Band delivered a great performance at the 2024 Bent and Bongs Beer Bash. YMCA never sounded so good! Maybe. Mayyyybeeee if we are lucky they’ll be back again in the future to once again grace the festival floor.

February 2024. The 33rd Bent and Bongs Beer Bash. The total raised before the start of the festival was £494,876. Would the 2024 event take this total beyond the magic half million?

Before we answer that, here are some of the charities and good causes that this money went to in 2024.

The Green Grass Centre

The Green Grass Centre was created to lift the spirits and improve life skills of the local community in Hag Fold and Atherton.

The BBCT helped to fund the centre’s ‘Home from Home’ initiative. This helps children from local schools with their homework, organizes group activities, and most importantly provides these children with a healthy meal.

Ellesmere Explorer Scouts (Part 1)

The Ellesmere Explorer Scouts were fundraising for a whole bunch of new equipment. Funds raised by the beer festival bought 5 new tents for the scouts to help them explore more and further.

The Parish Church Clock

The BBCT allocated some of the beer festival funds to help fix the clock on the Atherton Parish church. This was a joint effort including local councillors, the Atherton Business Partnership, the Bent and Bongs Charitable Trust, and the Church of England. Parish church clocks it seems are expensive to repair when they break. Happily the clock is now ticking again.

Daisy Hill Cricket Club

Daisy Hill Cricket Club have been renovating their clubhouse. The results look good. They also serve a mighty fine pint. It is no coincidence that there is input from the beer festival beer people. Bob along if you live close and fancy a swift half or two.

The club was fundraising to make outside improvements so that these areas can be used for community activities. The BBCT helped this with a contribution.

Dorset Road Community Centre

The Dorset Road Community Centre had a shortfall with their funding for a new, energy efficient, heating and air conditioning system. The BBCT allocated some funds from the beer festival to help close the funding gap so that Dorset Road users would be cool in the summer and more importantly warm in the winter.

Ellesmere Explorer Scouts (Part 2)

The Explorer Scouts were fundraising for a new minibus. This is clearly a significant purchase for any organisation. The BBCT helped the scouts with a donation towards this purchase.

The trustees also want to send a huge thanks to the Explorer Scouts for their help installing the festival flooring on a Tuesday night and their help taking everything down on a Sunday and packing it away in storage ready for next year.

Atherton Carnival

The BBCT helped finance the Atherton Carnival. The Atherton Carnival is a fantastic community event and the trust is always happy to help fund these local community activities.

Atherton Proms

The trust help to finance the Atherton Proms in the Park event.

As perhaps too much detail the trust covered the cost of the toilets for this event; an area in which the beer festival seems to have more than average expertise.

Tyldesley Brass Band

The Tyldesley Brass Band qualified for a national brass band competition; the first such qualification in their history. They needed help raising the funds to be able to travel to the national finals. The trust helped with this.

The Tyldesley Brass Band and the beer festival have a long history together. The band has played for the queue in the days of the large queues at the Formby Hall. They also gave a fantastic performance on the floor of the 2024 beer bash. YMCA never sounded so good.

Rivington Brass Band

Rivington Brass Band’s band room is in a bit of a state. The boiler doesn’t work, and the gas and electrics have been problematic. The band asked the trust if they could help fund some of the renovations. The trust thought this was a worthy local cause and so was happy to help.

So Did You? (Make It Past The Magic Half Million)

That would be a Yes.

The total on the banner for the 2025 festival will be starting with a 5 and it’s all thanks to you. The sponsors who support the event, the folks folks who volunteer their time to run it, and of course everyone who turns out on a cold midwinter night to come to the festival. You’re all brilliant.

February 2023 saw the 32nd Bent and Bongs Beer Bash. Back then the festival had raised £486,922 over those previous 32 years.

We were all curious how the 2023 event would turn out. It was the first year back since the two missing years due to Covid. Would everyone still want to turn out on a winter’s night for the Bent and Bongs? Would we end up making any money to donate to local charities? Would the festival even have the same feel about it? Two years off seemed like a lifetime.

We shouldn’t have worried. Everyone came as though there hadn’t been any interruption and the event was a big success.

Once all the bills were paid and the trust had settled the accounts there was a grand total of £7,954 remaining to give away to local charities and good causes.

And this is the interesting bit. It means that total raised going into the 2024 beer bash is £494,876.

If we can raise the same again in 2024 this will be one heck of a milestone. It will take us passed the magic half million.

The money raised goes back into the local community. In 2023 this included:

• Supporting Atherton’s Proms in the Park event
• Supporting a local brass band to get them to a national final
• Buying a portable de-fib unit
• General support for Atherton food bank and additional help towards them buying a new van
• Funding a venue, coffee, and biscuits for coffee mornings to help dementia sufferers
• Helping with the costs of the Atherton Carnival
• Supporting the School Dinners initiative set up by the Atherton Business Partnership
• Buying new kits for local kids’ football and rugby teams, and …
• Helping these teams fix or replace their clubhouses
• Helping with the costs of the Atherton nativity parade
• And in addition to all the above we’ve helped to send so many scouts to so many different places that we’ve lost track of them (the places we’ve helped fund, not the scouts, they’re all present and accounted for).

So it’s onwards and upwards to 2024. The trustees’ wish you all a very merry Christmas. Thank you to everyone who helped make all this possible, whether by helping with the festival, sponsoring the event, providing specialist services, or just turning up on a cold midwinter night for a few beers and a good time. We couldn’t do this without you. Thank you.