A fundraising success story
Julian Lomas
In 2017/18 we were pleased to advise Amersham Band on the fundraising strategy for their new band room project, in particular to help prepare grant applications. So it was wonderful to receive a letter earlier this month from theirChairman to let us know the project is now finished and to thank us for our help.
“Thank you again for all your efforts. We ended up raising over £500,000 for the project, which would not have been achievable without the benefit of the many grants that we were able to secure. We can all be very proud of what has been achieved.””
Amersham Band is a brass band committed to high quality music making by developing and nurturing local brass players. They are proud to be part of the local community in and around Amersham. The band has roots going back to 1845 and in recent years the band has made significant progress, growing steadily in membership and in the standard of playing, including promotion to the First Section of the Brass Band Championships for the first time in their 170 year history,
Since summer 2015 they have had a vision for a new, purpose-designed rehearsal facility, not least because they would soon need to leave their previous building. Having negotiated a lease on suitable land they secured planning permission for a new building in 2017, after over 200 local people wrote in support of the project.
Then the hard work began to raise over £0.5 million to complete the project; no small feat for a small local charity with a typical annual expenditure of around £25,000.
Everyone in the band, together with friends, families and local supporters helped with fundraising including concerts, quiz evenings, dozens of sponsored events, crowdfunding and appeals through local leaflet drops. Importantly, they secured significant amounts of grant funding from local and national funders. A textbook example of a capital fundraising appeal, comprising cornerstone grants, smaller grants and a wealth of local engagement through events and appeals.
Early work started on site in summer 2019, progressing through the winter when, in March 2020, Coronavirus hit. The band could no longer meet or perform, but they did create new online activities to keep people engaged with music and the project. When the build was finished, summer 2020 saw small groups of socially distanced band members and volunteers decorating, fitting and finishing the building. The fundraising target was finally reached in November 2020 and the parking bays and driveway were completed just before Christmas.
Amersham Band now has a brilliant facility, optimised for their use in a building sensitive to local heritage, on the edge of the Old Town. It comprises large rehearsal hall, smaller teaching rooms, kitchen, library, toilets and storage plus parking for 25 vehicles. We’re sure they can hardly wait for the current lockdown to ease so they can start rehearsing in the new building.
Our congratulations go to Amersham Band. We hope you will be enjoying your new band room soon and continuing your wonderful music making and community work.
If you would like to explore how we can help your charity with grant fundraising, please contact us at julian@almondtreeconsulting.co.uk.