The entry form for Midlands Area bands for the 2025 contest may be downloaded here. The closing date for entries is Friday 10^th January 2025.

Following their most recent meeting in November 2024, the National Forum, comprising of the elected representatives from the seven Regional Championships plus the Scottish Brass Band Association have decided to change National Rules 8 and 13 which will become effective from 1 January 2025 and until further notice.

Borrowed Players

For the first time, the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain will allow borrowed players at the Regional Championships (only, not the National Finals).

As a trial for the 2025 Regional Championships: bands competing in Sections 3 & 4 only are allowed to borrow up to two players, regardless of reason. The borrowed player/players must be registered with an accredited Registry (BBP/Scottish Registry), and can be registered with a band in any region of Great Britain.

The borrowed player/players must be from another band in the same section or section below the borrowing band, and a player may play with a maximum of 3 bands in the 2025 Regional Championships series. The only exception to this is for the application of the provisions of Rule 15 (when a player is unable to compete due to personal or family illness, injury, bereavement or other emergency occurrence prior to the draw).

National Finals Qualification

Rule 13 has also been changed, which specifies the number of bands qualifying for an invitation to the National Finals (depending on the number of bands entered in the sections at the Regional Championships). The first three placed bands in the previous year’s ‘Final’ will qualify for an invitation to the following year’s ‘Final’.

The minutes of our recent AGM may be read here.

At our AGM today, we elected a new chair, Barbara Dunscombe, and treasurer, Mike Wildman, who takes over from Marie Smith, who has retired after nearly 30 years service, and becomes a life member of the committee. Our other officers were re-elected unopposed. Our new committee members are listed here.

Thank you to those bands who sent a representative to the meeting.

The adjudicators for next year’s Midlands regional contest are:

Andrew Warriner
David Hirst
Derek Renshaw
James Holt
Stephanie Binns
Steven Mead
Steve Pritchard Jones

Details of which sections they will be adjudicating will be announced in due course.