Support Us

Akin to most registered charities and voluntary organisations, Derwent Brass is primarily reliant on the support of its members, followers and patrons to achieve its objectives. This coupled with a mix of donations and grant applications supports the band's continual improvement, helps facilitate its educational and community based work and ultimately ensures it remains a sustainable and successful enterprise.

The basic operational costs and expenditure required to fund the activities of Derwent Brass is several thousands of pounds per annum. Combine this with the sums required for the purchase of new assets and running new initiatives or projects and this sum rapidly escalates into tens of thousands.

Below are some ways in which you can support Derwent Brass and in turn the wider development of brass music.

Text DERWENT

You can donate to Derwent Brass by texting DERWENT followed by the amount you wish to donate, to 70085.

As an example, to donate £5, you would text DERWENT 5 to 70085.

Texts cost the donation amount plus one standard rate message.

Derwent Brass is one of the leading and most recognised brass bands in the Midlands, representing Derbyshire by performing at concerts and contests across the country and occasionally abroad.

We are often in the studio recording music, appearing online, in the press, radio and occasionally on the television. Through both our artistic and charitable work, we regularly engage with the community, constantly expand our following and seek new ways to continuously improve. However, we openly acknowledge that to broaden our horizons further we would greatly benefit from financial support.

If you are an individual or business who would like to be associated with Derwent Brass, we would love to hear from you.

We have packages that can be tailored to suit and offer great value, whether you want to sponsor an individual player, instrument, recording or event, right through to full sponsorship of the entire organisation - the possibilities are endless. We can actively endorse the brands of our sponsors and provide a professional association with your business.

The benefits to organisations showing support for small successful charities, such as Derwent Brass, are vast. It can help define your brand identity, increase your reach to wider audience, boost morale, better public relations, and it's just good for the community. With an ever increasing focus on Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance, showing support for arts based development within the community can send a powerful message. 

Please contact us and one of our Trustees will be in touch.

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"We are proud to have sponsored Derwent Brass on several occasions, including events, recordings and web development. The association with the band, watching their success and charitable work is fulfilling for the team at Serif and they are now our go to ensemble for suitable corporate events."

Ash Hewson, Managing Director, Serif

Managing all things Derwent Brass can be very labour intensive, as it is to run most successful organisations and charities. Most tasks are carried out by the Trustees who, in most instances, are also players within the band and so time is as much at a premium as money.

The spectrum of tasks we carry out is broad, from flyer distribution through to front of house event support. If you would like to get involved with Derwent Brass and have some time to offer we would like to hear from you.

Please contact us and one of our Trustees will be in touch.

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A fantastic way of supporting the band and its musical legacy is by becoming a Patron. We are fortunate to have had several patrons over the years, each of which has supported the band in their own unique but extremely supportive way.

Our current patrons are:

Professor Ash Hewson (Chief Patron) - Ash is a former member of Derwent Brass, both as a Euphonium player and Events Manager. Despite having to leave the band due to work committments, he became a patron in 2019 following his unwaivering support for the band and we continue to enjoy a close and active relationship. In 2022 Ash became our first 'Chief Patron' in recogniton of his continued backing for many important things including our Annual Awards evening and website.

Roy Poole - Roy Poole has been a very good friend and loyal supporter of the band for many years. He was the hard working Chairman of the former ‘Friends of Nightingale MacMillan Unit’ for whom the band performed numerous fundraising concerts. Roy became a Patron in 2005 and continues to support us and our charity concerts.

Steven Blakeley - Steven is well-known for his work in theatre, radio and television, perhaps most notably for his role as PC Geoff Younger in ITV's long running drama 'Heartbeat', though has made a plethora of televised appearances since across the world. Steven has been associated with Derwent Brass for several years, including as host at large events. In 2009 the band were delighted to play at his wedding and formalised the relationship in 2011 with Steven accepting the offer to become patron.

If you would like to work more closely with Derwent Brass, support the band's activites and have those efforts recognised as Patron of the band, we'd love to hear from you.

Please contact us and one of our Trustees will be in touch.

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Any offer of support to Derwent Brass is appreciated.