NYFRS Charity Concert is a resounding success
18th December 2012
The
44th annual North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service Christmas Concert
was one of the best ever! The concert on Sunday night saw the WYFRS
Band featuring alongside a selection of other performers who put
together a truly magnificent variety performance which went on to raise
an estimated £7,000 for the Fire Fighters Charity.
The event featured NYFRS Pipe Band, Robin Bier, The Fisher Singers and street dancers from Freedom Performing Arts all coming together in a massed finale alongside the WYFRS Band and Corps of Drums.
One
of the highlights of the show was the WYFRS Corps of Drums performing
to a Beyonce and Britney compilation, in black light, with the dancers
from Freedom.
The event organiser Bruce Reid said "This has
been one of the most spectacular events we've seen at the Royal Hall and
the money raised for the Fire Fighters Charity is superb".
More photos from the event can be viewed here and a video of the drum display can be seen here.
Band smash £3000 fundraising target!
4th December 2012
WYFRS
were proud to take part in the inaugural UK Tunnel to Towers run in
London back in October. The band marched the full length of the 5km
route in full ceremonial attire and completed the run in just over 1
hour and 9 minutes.
Following on from the fun run, the band's
members have been busy collecting sponsorship in from all the generous
people who sponsored them.
The final tally has now been
collated and the band raised a phenomenal £3120 - every single penny of
which has gone to a number worthwhile charities all listed below. Andrew
Field, the Band Treasurer said, "The band has never undertaken a
project like this before, and to have delivered such an outstanding
result is amazing. We'd hoped for £3000+, but it was an ambitious
target!". He went on to say "2012 will be the most charitable year for
WYFRS band and I'm really looking forward to publishing the results on
the band website in early 2013"
The charities who the band raised money for were:
and a local child, who suffers from Alexander's Disease.
The band would like to thank our event sponsors who helped make it possible for us to attend the Tunnel to Towers event:
WYFRS Band perform the November 11th Ceremony at the Menin Gare in Ypres.
The
band are once again extremely proud to have represented the UK fire
services at the annual remembrance ceremony in Ypres Belgium, The band's
Chairman, Brain Robson, said. "It is a real privilege to the WYFRS band
to honour fallen comrades of the great war at the Menin Gate."
At
the band's 4th appearance at the Menin gate, they appeared alongside
representatives from their colleagues from The band of the Volunteer
Fire Service of Lubartow, Poland and the Bridgewater Fire Department
Band of Nova Scotia, Canada.
Musical
Director, Lee Whitworth said, "We're delighted to have been able to
include our friends in such and important and significant event"
Following
the main service at the gate, the band then conducted a ceremony at the
Canadian Monument, where Chief Fire Officer of Bridgewater Fire
Department, Wayne Thorburne laid a wreath and paid tribute to the fallen
Canadian soldiers. The last post was played by President of the BFD
Band, Laura Allen.
Tunnel to Towers
24 September 2012
The Band of the West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service has now
launched their fundraising campaign for their forthcoming "Tunnel to
Towers" march. We will be marching and playing
along an incredible 5km route accompanying some 20,000 fun runners along the way.
For more information on the fabulous event please visit our Tunnel to Towers information page. More importantly, please sponsor the band!!!
A weekend away
15-16 September 2012
In glorious sunshine yet again, the band welcomed racegoers to the 2012
St. Leger Stakes race day at Doncaster Racecourse on Saturday. This is
always a fun event, playing for the crowds as they arrive before
marching on the track to kick off the day's racing.
Following the races it was down to central London and an overnight
stop before the National Firefighters Memorial Service on Sunday
morning. Forming up just South of St. Paul's Cathedral the band led a
parade of standards to St Bartholomew's Church for a remembrance service
and then back to St Paul's to lay wreaths at the National Firefighters
Memorial. WYFRS Band was joined by The Devon & Somerset Fire &
Rescue Service Corps of Drums and Fire Service pipers from across the
UK.
Armed forces day.
26th June 2012
On Saturday 30th June, the band are to celebrate armed forces day at a
free event hosted by The Piece Hall in Halifax. The full day
extravaganza starts at 11am and features a 1940s theme, to include
Military vehicles, dancers, Howitzers and some full Military
re-enactments along with the WYFRS band - of course.
One of the main highlights of the event will be a Spitfire flypast
scheduled for around 2:45pm. A band spokesman said "We would encourage
everyone to come along for what promises to be a great day out, for all
the family!"
A poster about the event can be viewed here.
Wedding bells are a'ringing!
23rd May 2012
WYFRS band are delighted to be the band of choice for weddings at the
moment. The band recently played at Wentbridge house in Pontefract with
the groom commenting on how great the performance had been.
Our next wedding is at Chevin Lodge, North Leeds
in two weeks and we already have bookings coming in next year including
one event at the stunning Ripley Castle.
A member of the band said "We always enjoy
playing at weddings, it's such a lovely feeling to be a part of a
couples special day, and the guests are always commenting on how great
it is to have the band around.
Performances for West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service
14th May 2012
The band are particularly proud to have played on a number of occasions for
the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service recently.
The band played for the opening ceremonies at
the new fire stations in both Normanton & Pontefract which were
officially opened by the Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, Dr. Ingrid
Roscoe and accompanied by the local member of Parliament Yvette Cooper
MP.
Cllr Philip Booth, former Chair of the WYFRS
Authority said it always added that bit extra to an event when the band
played. A press release from WYFRS regarding the opening of these
stations can be read
here.
In addition to the opening of the new stations,
the band also recently performed for the graduates of the Young Fire
Fighter Scheme. The 200 Graduates, from 16 schools around the county
carried out a number of fire drills in front of their family, teachers,
head teachers and senior fire service officers at formal graduation
ceremonies at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service headquarters in
Birkenshaw. A full press release from WYFRS can be read
here.
Band play sell out concert in memory of Neil 'Tony' Downes.
25th April 2012
The band performed a sell out concert at the Concorde Suite in Droylsden, Manchester on Saturday 21st April.
During the Concert, which was in memory of
fallen soldier Neil ‘Tony’ Downes, there were also appearances from
Manchester Rock band Addiction Lane, the WYFRS pipes band, and a dance
to “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” performed by “The girls from the Kings Head
Pub”. The raffle was drawn by Coronation Street actor Bill Tarmey AKA
Jack Duckworth.
The full event started in the morning of the
21st with several groups performing throughout the day, at the shopping
centre in Droylsden. This commenced with a school choir from the
Manchester Road Primary School and then featured performances from the
WYFRS Pipe band, St John Castle Band, and Humberside Police Band.
The full event raised a phenomenal £4406 for the various groups who had
performed throughout the day and for “Help for Heroes” in memory of Neil
Downes.
The Worshipful, The Civic Mayor of Tameside, Councillor Susan Quinn
addressed the audience, commenting on how exceptional the event had been
and in particular extending gratitude to the band’s Musical Director,
Lee Whitworth.
Following from some emotional moments throughout the concert, Ronnie
Downes, the Father of Tony, closed the concert with a final note of
gratitude to the Band, and to Lee.
After the event, Band Chairman Brian Robson, said the band had been
proud to perform for such a special event and that it was fantastic how
the local community had come together to raise so much money in Tony’s
Name. The band wishes to thank all those involved and the sponsors of
the event for helping it happen. Full details of the event, the
sponsors, and a more about Tony, can be found
here.
What's all that Twittering?
14 April 2012
The band have today launched their Twitter page. A spokesman for the
band said, we needed to get connected more with social media and Twitter
is an excellent platform for us to communicate with the public. We hope
people find the feed informative and look forward to attracting many
followers.
Click here to see what the latest is...
Around the World in 80 Minutes!
1 April 2012
The band performed a concert of music from around the world last night
in Morley Town Hall. This is the second concert the band has done in
this venue and its looking like a new annual event, with the audience
augmented from last year and all wanting to know our next concert date.
The band also presented the Band Chairman Brian Robson with a retirement
present following his departure from the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue
Service in February this year. The band is very pleased that Brian is
going to stay on as Band Chairman, continuing the support he has given
to the Fire Fighters charity.
The band is now getting ready to perform for a wedding this month
followed by our Charity concert in Manchester, in memory of Guardsman
Neil Tony Downes.
Band to attend Armistice Day 2012 at the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium
23 March 2012
The Menin Gate is a First World War memorial in Ypres, Belgium. It lists
the names of 54,896 Commonwealth soldiers who died in the Ypres Salient
and who have no known grave. Many more names from the battles of Ypres
are honoured at other memorials near by.
Every evening at 8pm the local volunteer fire brigade perform a Last
Post ceremony as an act of homage to the fallen. It is this fire service
connection that brought representatives from the UK Fire & Rescue
Services to join the Armistice Day ceremonies some 27 years ago.
This year the West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service Band
will be part of the massed band attending the Last Post ceremonies on
the 10th and 11th November. We will also lead the Poppy Parade through
Ypres to the Menin Gate for the remembrance service on the morning of
11th November.
We are always looking for new players to join the band. If you would like to play in the band and join us on our tour to Ypres then please get in touch.
Band returning to Coutts International Polo Weekend
12 January 2012
The band will be appearing again at the Coutts International Polo tournament held in June each year at Chester Racecourse. A quintet will be providing music during Friday, followed by the marching band on Saturday to entertain the crowds between matches and to accompany the prize giving ceremony.
For further details and ticket information please visit the Chester Racecourse website.
