4BR has been informed that the Midlands Regional Championship Committee has written to all competing bands at its event at the Corby Business Academy last weekend and this, to inform them that they have had to deal with the consequences of several reports of alleged inappropriate behaviour.

Serious threat

It is understood that several irresponsible acts had left the hosting of the Fourth Section contest, due to take place this weekend at the venue, under serious threat of being cancelled.

Only the intervention of Midlands Regional Secretary Lesley Bentley with the assistance of Dr Alex Parker of Brass Bands England in working directly with the Principal of Corby Business Academy over three days following last weekend's event, has enabled the Fourth Section contest to go ahead, predominantly as planned.

It is the second year in a row that Lesley Bentley has had to intervene to ensure the Midlands Regional Championships have not been cancelled due to disrespectful behaviour.

Repeated requests

4BR understands that despite repeated requests, there were several cases of people parking inappropriately and causing extensive damage to the school site, whilst there was smoking and vaping inside the school canteen.

In addition, reports were received of disruption to local residents, littering and rude behaviour to staff.

In a letter sent to all bands, the Regional Committee stated that the reported incidents were "completely unacceptable as guests to the school facilities."

Statement:

In the statement, signed by Regional Secretary Lesley Bentley it said:

"The Midlands committee want to remind all bands and individuals that when attending events there is a reasonable expectation that you are not just representing yourselves but brass banding in general when attending our events.

There is extensive CCTV of the events of last weekend and where individuals can be identified there will be sanctions to follow. This includes passing on the cost of any damage, suspension from future competitions and if appropriate disqualification from this year's results at the discretion of the Midlands Regional Committee.

For many this will be of no relevance, nor does it represent your personal behaviour, culture, and ethos but this past weekend banding was let down and put in serious jeopardy by a sizable minority in attendance.

In particular, smoking in the entrance of a school is a very poor role model for the young people participating. We urge you to reflect on this moving forward. Venues are what you rely on to showcase the talent and hard work associated with musical performance; please treat them with respect and ensure we can return in the future.

The organising team would like to reiterate to all those competing that we expect everyone at the event to be treated with dignity and respect and that includes the great facilities offered by the academy."

Responsibility

The letter ended: "The Midland Area Committee is incredibly pleased to be able to put on this weekend's contest and express our thanks to Corby Business Academy for working with us to allow the event to go ahead.

We are looking forward to welcoming everyone to the Contest and hope all bands put on their best possible performance and enjoy their time with us.

We all have a responsibility to ensure that banding presents itself in the best way possible so please ensure this message is fully circulated to your members in advance of the event this weekend and work together to self-regulate your members to ensure that all bands represent themselves properly."

It was requested that those taking part this weekend in the Fourth Section contest ensured they observe the following requests, made in conjunction with the host venue4BR

Requests:

It was requested that those taking part this weekend in the Fourth Section contest ensure they observe the following requests, made in conjunction with the host venue.

There must be no smoking or vaping on site or in the vicinity of the site entrance and there must be no litter particularly that from cigarette and cigar ends.

There will be no alcohol on site and bands must not bring any themselves.

Bins will be provided please use these and challenge each other to respect the site and leave it as you would expect to find it.

Do not park anywhere other than in designated bays in particular do not block access for coaches or park on the grass as the currently saturated ground cannot carry the load. Car park security will be in place to assist in managing the car park.

If the car park is full you will need to seek parking off site. Please ensure you have considered organising cars sharing wherever possible.

Do not go into closed areas of the school without authorisation from the event management.

Respect the academy's residents and show respect when arriving and leaving the site.

There will be a zero-tolerance approach in place over this coming weekend with regards to any inappropriate behaviour, supported by an external security team that we are bringing in.

Whilst there will be no alcohol on site food and soft/ hot drinks will still be available in the restaurant provided by the team from UniBrass and we encourage all our guests to support them as all funds raised here go to supporting the University bands across the country.