Christmas – 1st Class Brass https://1stclassbrass.org Colchester based band for brass players of all ages and abilities Sat, 06 Jun 2026 17:27:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.4 https://1stclassbrass.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cropped-logo1-32x32.png Christmas – 1st Class Brass https://1stclassbrass.org 32 32 £700 charity donation to NAMT https://1stclassbrass.org/700-charity-donation-to-namt/ Sat, 06 Jun 2026 17:27:30 +0000 https://www.1stclassbrass.org/?p=31612

Last month the band welcomed Zoe from the Nick Alexander Music Trust to their rehearsal.

The band decided to donate £700 to the Nick Alexander Music Trust from the money they raised from carol playing last year. 

The band members enjoyed hearing about the work that the Trust does and Zoe then stayed and listened to the rehearsal.

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The band welcomed Rebecca from St Helena Hospice to their rehearsal on 6th March.  Rebecca is the Community Fundraiser for the hospice and was happy to come along to the rehearsal to tell the band a little bit about the work that the hospice does.

The band decided to donate £700 to St Helena Hospice from the money they raised from carol playing last year. 

The band members enjoyed hearing about the work that the hospice does and Rebecca then stayed and listened to the rehearsal.  The band hopes to support St Helena Hospice again in the future.

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The band had a busy Christmas season performing at their own Christmas Concert, Wivenhoe Congregational Church and Blomfield House Care Home.

The Christmas concert was held on Friday 5th December at St John’s and Highwoods Community Centre.  The band performed to a good sized and appreciative audience and played a varied programme of Christmas favourites. 

The following Friday, 12th December saw the band return to Wivenhoe Congregational Church for their annual carol service.  This is always a lovely event with an enthusiastic congregation and there’s something special about the band accompanying community singing. 

Finishing off a busy weekend, the band played at Blomfield House Care Home on Sunday 14th December.  The band has played at Blomfield House for several years now and usually performs for the residents and their families in the summer and at Christmas.  A smaller sized band is the perfect fit for the lovely bay window!!

Besides the more formal concerts the band was also out carol playing, raising money for St Helena Hospice, The Nick Alexander Music Trust and band funds.  The band played at Waitrose Colchester (twice), Tesco Highwoods and Sainsbury’s Stanway.  The band is very grateful to these supermarkets for letting us play at their stores. 

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The Nick Alexander Music Trust

Waitrose – Sunday 7th December

Waitrose – Saturday 13th December

Tesco Highwoods – Monday 22nd December

Sainsbury’s Stanway – Tuesday 23rd December

With such a busy Christmas season, the band social had to wait until January.  The band held their “Concert for Us” and pizza and board games night on 30th January.  The “Concert for Us” is a chance for any members that would like to, to perform a solo, duet or as part of a small group to a supportive and appreciative audience. 

The band are now rehearsing hard for their Spring Concert on Friday 27th March.  Spring Concert – 1st Class Brass

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As well as concerts and carol services, the band was also carol playing at local supermarkets during December.  They played at Waitrose, Tesco (Hythe) and Sainsbury’s (Stanway).

Having supported The Colchester Foodbank for the last year few years, the band decided to donate £500 (just over 50% of all income raised from carol playing) once again to this very worthwhile organisation. 

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The band had a busy December with carol playing, carol services and concerts. 

At the last rehearsal of the Autumn Term everyone came to rehearsal dressed in their best Christmas attire!

On Friday 6th December the band returned to Wivenhoe Congregational Church for their annual carol service, this is always a lovely event with a good sized congregation.

On Sunday 8th December the band played for the residents and staff of Blomfield House Care Home. The band has been visiting Blomfield House for a couple of years and it’s always lovely to return and see everyone again. 

On Friday 13th December the band held their Christmas Concert at St John’s and Highwoods Community Centre. 

The band played a varied programme including traditional pieces such as a cornet solo of ‘Away in a Manger’ performed by the principal cornet, Bryony to more upbeat Christmas chart hits including ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’. 

Congratulations to Millie who was awarded the Star Player certificate for the Autumn Term.

The band was also busy during December carol playing at local supermarkets raising funds for both the band and The Colchester Foodbank. 

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