The South Glos Post

A wind band from Yate has won a coveted award at the West of England and South Wales Regional Concert Band Festival in Monmouth.

Earlier this month Yate Music Centre’s Senior Wind Band performed a 20 minute programme of music for woodwind, brass and percussion under the experienced baton of musical director David Pagett, to scoop the prestigious Platinum Award.

As a result, the band, which receives support from South Gloucestershire Council, will now be invited to perform again at the 2010 National Concert Band Festival (NCBF) which is to be held on the 10 and 11 April at the Birmingham Conservatoire.

The band will now be concentrating their rehearsal time on preparations for both the National Concert Band Festival Finals in April and their annual Christmas concert at Brimsham GreenSchool on 12 December.

Yate Music Centre is one of three area music centres run by South Gloucestershire Council Music Service. It consists of a senior wind band, intermediate wind band, senior string ensemble, intermediate string ensemble and training string ensemble, all of which meet and rehearse at BrimshamGreenSchool on Saturday mornings.

Cllr Sheila Cook, executive member for children and young people, said: “The Yate senior wind band should be very proud of their excellent achievement. I very much look forward to following their exploits at the national level next April.”

The band are keen to attract both sponsorship and performance opportunities that would allow them to showcase their new concert programme before the national finals in April.

Laura Daykin, one of the band’s tutors, said: “A Platinum Award from the NCBF is a really fantastic achievement for these talented young musicians. It is a testament to their hard work and dedication that they have been given the highest possible award in recognition of the weeks of hard work and practice that contributed to their performance.”

If you can help the band or if you are interested in supporting the work of Yate Music Centre, please get in touch via South Gloucestershire Music Service who can be contacted by email at musicservice@southglos.gov.uk.

Full details of all the young musicians groups and the work of the Music Service is available online www.southglos.gov.uk/musicservice.

Source: South Gloucestershire Council

Police are appealing for information after a disabled woman was subject to abuse in Thornbury on Saturday, October 31.

At around 1:30pm to 2pm the victim, a 35-year-old disabled woman, was sitting on a bench on High Street, Thornbury when a coach stopped nearby.

It’s alleged that three male passengers from the coach approached the victim, touched her and sang an offensive song. They then asked her if she was disabled and continued to make offensive comments.

It’s believed that the coach was carrying travelling football fans on route to a match in the city that day.

Anyone who may have witnessed the attack or who may have information is asked to contact police in Staple Hill on 0845 456 7000. Alternatively call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Source: Avon and Somerset Police

South Gloucestershire Library Service has launched a new online resource available in libraries across the district to help both individuals and community groups identify funding from grant-giving organisations.

The online database is provided by the charity FunderFinder which specialises in information and advice about grant-giving charitable trusts and foundations in the UK. The database holds the details of over 4,500 of these organisations and matches the needs of an individual or community group against the relevant funders that best match their profile.

Cllr Heather Goddard, executive member for communities, said: “This will be a very useful resource for anyone who is looking for additional funding to help develop their own lives or that of a local community organisation. The Council works hard to support the voluntary sector and this will be one way in which we can help them find funding to support their valuable work.”

If you are interested in using this resource please contact any South Gloucestershire library. Computers can be booked free of charge at the library of your choice at a time and date convenient to you.

A member of staff will help you access the database and a short guide on how to use the resource will be available.

You can call in person or contact any of our libraries on 01454 868006.

Source: South Gloucestershire Council

Conservative councillors have slammed the Government after it revealed plans to slash South Gloucestershire Council’s bus budget by £340,000.

The funding cut is proposed as part of plans announced recently by the Department for Transport (DfT) to change the distribution of funding for the national concessionary travel scheme for the 2010/11 financial year. At £340k, this is the biggest loss for any council outside London.

This unexpected cut is despite the fact that 2010/11 will be the third year of a supposedly 3 year funding settlement that was designed to provide certainty for councils.

The national concessionary travel scheme, which provides free bus travel for older residents, should be government-funded, however South Gloucestershire Council already has to use £1.1m of local money to support the scheme.

A further £340k cut in central funding would take the annual shortfall up to nearly £1.5m.

The funding cut throws into doubt council plans to pilot-test ‘demand-responsive’ bus services to serve many of the district’s rural communities.

Cllr Brian Allinson, South Gloucestershire’s Conservative transport chief, has slammed the cut, saying:

“We support the free bus scheme because it has benefited many local elderly and disabled people. But the government is failing to ensure the scheme is fully funded in total and at individual council level.

The council is already using £1.1m of council tax payers’ money to cover insufficient government funding for the scheme – now we face the prospect of this shortfall jumping to nearly £1.5m because Ministers will not honour their three year funding settlement..

When you consider that we are already one of the lowest funded councils of our kind in the country, a last minute funding cut of this enormous scale is deeply unfair.”

He added:

“This cut calls into question our plans to further improve public transport opportunities in the district, particularly the introduction of new demand-responsive bus services to serve our rural residents.

I urge residents to join with the council in urging Ministers not to go ahead with their plans because, at this stage, I cannot see anyway that the Council could simply absorb such a massive and sudden funding cut.”

Cllr Sandra Grant, Conservative councillor for the rural Boyd Valley ward which includes the villages of Dyrham, Hinton and Doynton, said:

“Demand-led bus services would have a useful role to play in filling the long-standing public transport gap that has existed in our rural areas for years.

It is hugely disappointing that just as the Council attempts to introduce such innovative new services; Government ministers are pulling the funding rug out from underneath them.

I hope Ministers back down from forcing through this damaging funding cut.”

The DfT consultation closes on 30 December 2009.

Source: Conservative Group on South Gloucestershire Council