Brass Bands England (BBE) has been awarded a Body of Persons Approval (BOPA) by the Welsh Government, allowing the BBE BOPA system to also cover member bands' performances within Wales.

The new Welsh BOPA allows the scope of the system already in place with BBE in England to cover performances in Wales under exactly the same conditions. It means that bands from both England and Wales will now be able to use the system to perform in either country.

Importance

Talking to 4BR, BBE's Partnership & Relationship Development Manager, Alex Parker explained the importance of the award.

"It was clear that while our BOPA has proven to be successful for bands in England, there were member bands that were faced with differing Child Performance Licensing conditions if and when they performed in Wales.

We were also aware of a growing desire among our existing Welsh member bands, and others, to have access to the system, so we approached the Welsh Government to explore the possibility of expansion.

The resulting BOPA, matching the conditions of the English BOPA which was issued in July 2019 by the Department for Education in Westminster, was and issued by Kirsty Williams AC/AM, Minister for Education on 29th January 2020, and covers BBE members when they meet the conditions of use."

Requirements

In order to receive permission to use the BBE-held BOPA, bands will be required to be members of Brass Bands England, and will be completing the BandSafe Self-Assessment Toolkit to ensure their safeguarding policy is suitable and up to date.

Two band members should complete the BandSafe Training, developed in conjunction with the NSPCC, at least every two years.

When using the BOPA, bands will also need to comply with the relevant Child Performance Licensing Regulations, which can be found at BBE.org.uk/BOPA

Significant benefit

Alex added: "Among other significant benefits to BBE member bands, our BOPA system means there is now a consistent set of requirements for brass bands and event organisers across England and Wales, with a single application process and style of consent forms and consistent requirements for supervising adults.

In order to make the BOPA available to our existing Welsh members, we aim to run BandSafe training sessions in both north and south Wales. Details of these events will be made available as soon as possible."

This is outstanding news for brass bands across England and Wales, and we are delighted that we have been able to provide a groundbreaking solution for all event organisers and bands with young playersBBE Chairman, Mike Kilroy

Solution

Adding his delight at the news, BBE's Chairman, Mike Kilroy told 4BR: "This is outstanding news for brass bands across England and Wales, and we are delighted that we have been able to provide a groundbreaking solution for all event organisers and bands with young players.

It's testament to the work of the BBE staff that government education departments in both England and Wales have now endorsed the system — one which will play a very important role in our long-term aim of providing better banding for all."