Pemberton secure financial backing

Published in Band News on 2013-09-16 by Empty Chairs

More news from Pemberton Old Wigan Band

Following the grand opening of Wigan Youth Zone in June, the Pemberton Old Wigan DW Band Organisation have been working in partnership to raise the profile of brass playing in the town. The Youth Band have exclusive access to the purpose-built band room at the state-of-the-art facility and have already been putting to good use by holding extra rehearsals there over the summer. The first major opportunity the band have to promote this new joint venture will be at Fleetwood contest, when the Youth Band will be sporting specially made t-shirts featuring the logos of both organisations, kindly donated by R Banks and Sons.

This collaboration between the two organisations has been the brain-child of David Whelan for some years now. As a member of Wigan Boys Club in his Youth, Mr Whelan knows how important music is for young people. He has funded the Wigan Youth Zone as a modern equivalent of a Wigan Boys and Girls Club, providing facilities for the young people of Wigan to engage in numerous activities in a safe environment.

The Pemberton Old Wigan DW Band Organisation are pleased to announce that on the back of this joint venture, Mr Whelan has, this week, renewed his sponsorship for the band, allowing additional funding for the specific purpose of developing our Youth Band in partnership with Wigan Youth Zone. John Don-Duncan, conductor of the Youth Band and trombonist in the Senior Band, is especially pleased and looks forward to using the funding to bring in “high quality, experienced tutors” and to update the Youth Band’s library.

Mr Whelan’s sponsorship of the band dates back several years, back to his JJB days when the band used to be called Pemberton Old Wigan JJB Band, but the name was changed in 2010 when Mr Whelan sold JJB and opened his new line of sports facilities. Since then the Pemberton Old Wigan DW Band Organisation has continued to go from strength to strength, with contest successes for both the Senior and B Bands and increased membership of the Youth Band.

Recently the band have also secured funding from the Co-op for renovation of some of the more ‘used’ instruments and are hoping to secure some additional renovation funding from Wigan Council as part of our commitment to Wigan community.

The Organisation would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Whelan for his financial support and to thank Mr Halliwell of R Banks and Sons for donating the Youth Band t-shirts. We would also like to thank the countless members of the organisation who give their time to support our projects and who have been instrumental in gaining the recent funding.