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Band 'still fundraising' in search for new home

Adele Wilkinson,Leicesterand
Ady Dayman,BBC Radio Leicester
Enderby Band Image shows band members at a rehearsal in a hall. The band players are sat in a large semi circle and are wearing black jackets with a red opening and white shirts. They are also wearing black trousers and sat on blue plastic chairs. They are holding a range of brass instruments. The chairs are on a wooden floor and there is a white backdrop behind them. Enderby Band
The band is fundraising all the time but would like a permanent home in Enderby

A brass band that has been without a home since leaving its original base in 2021 is "still fundraising" for a permanent centre.

Enderby Brass Band was originally based in a cabin next to Huncote Leisure Centre, which closed after dangerous levels of methane were found.

Since then, the band has had numerous rehearsal spaces around Leicestershire for its various performance groups, including the Enderby Village Institute and Robjohn Hall in Narborough.

Band treasurer and committee member Elaine Cooke said: "We're fundraising all the time as we are a charity, but we are setting some money aside for somewhere else to go."

"The rehearsals are in a couple of places at the moment because we were at Huncote and we had to leave," she added.

"We're quite established where we are, but we've got instruments all over the county."

Being based across different locations means the band is not always able to get an instrument to a member who does not own one, Ms Cooke added.

Instead, they often have to wait while an instrument is brought from another base.

Enderby Band Image shows President of the organisation, Garry Sleath, standing in front of a band. He is wearing a red waistcoat over a white shirt, black trousers and black shoes. The other band members are sat behind him in a large semi-circle, all dressed in black suits with a red opening on the jackets. They're outside on some grass and underneath a dark green marquee with ribbons round the top edges. Enderby Band
In 2021, Garry Sleath said the band had to hire various rehearsal facilities

Enderby Brass Band formed in 1895 and in 2021, band president Garry Sleath said the organisation needed a room to rehearse in and a room to store equipment.

"What we've been having to do is hire rehearsal facilities, which can be here, there and everywhere - and that's costing us a huge amount of money.

"If we don't find something that's affordable then we're going to go bankrupt and cease to exist.

In 2022, it was offered a rehearsal space at the University of Leicester's Oadby campus.

However, this ended after fees were increased.

Ms Cooke said the band has approached various groups, including churches and community buildings, in its search for a space.

She added: "It will probably be a case of finding somewhere where we've got storage and somewhere to go on a regular basis, even if we have to pay rent for it, so long as we can keep it in the ratios of what we're now paying.

"We'd love to be and remain in the Enderby area because we are Enderby Band."

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