A HISTORIC brass band is celebrating several cash grants which give it a new lease of life and ensures the future of the musical tradition of a former pit village.

The Easington Colliery Brass Band has raised a total of £28,000 recently, to enable it to buy much-needed new instruments, as well as uniforms.

Band secretary Peter Lawson said: “We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of local people who have been very helpful in helping us raise the cash needed.

“We have now also had successful grant applications. We are totally delighted. It will allow us to replace ageing instruments and uniforms and help sustain the band well into the future.”

He added: “We were the first brass band to receive Heritage Lottery Cash in 1993.

“That grant of £45,000 helped us to buy a variety of instruments, which are now showing signs of wear and needed replacing.”

Mr Lawson said the band was able to buy four Yamaha Neo tubas with “substantial grant” from the North East Miners Social Welfare Trust Fund.

A further £5,000 from the James Knott Trust, £3,500 from the County Durham Community Foundation and £3,000 from the Hedley Foundation has helped pay for three tenor horns and two Prestige cornets.

The band has also taken delivery of new jackets and ties with help from Persimmon Homes and the local parish council, with a “sizeable chunk” of cash donated by the community from a fundraising event.

Mr Lawson said the band aimed to raise a further £50,000 to pay for the rest of the equipment which needs replacing.

Easington Colliery Brass Band was founded in 1915 and has enjoyed an excellent reputation as a premier band, both regionally and nationally, playing at a championship level.

Originally miners with band experience were encouraged by the colliery management to come from the west of Durham to work at the pit and play in the band.

The band was supported financially and run by the joint board of unions, until the start of the Second World War.

It played for community activities, such as dances, concerts, and competitions, amalgamated with the public band in 1956 and 1993 witnessed the end of an era when Easington Colliery finally closed.

The band was honoured to perform the soundtrack for the last-ever Billy Elliot the musical at the Victoria Palace Theatre, in London, in April.

The band was invited to play at the last night of .

For more information visit www.easingtoncollieryband.org or its Facebook page on