On Friday 10 November the ever-popular Wam Bam Band had a sell-out crowd at Wirksworth Town Hall dancing and singing the night away, demonstrating how much fun being in a band can be. There couldn’t be better advocates for getting involved in live music!
The evening was a fundraising concert for Wirksworth Music Centre (WMC), which offers opportunities for local, school-age children to come together to make music in various ensembles and choirs. As a registered charity, the centre is dependent on grants, donations and student subscriptions. As a result of student numbers falling during the pandemic and being slow to recover, the WMC trustees are actively seeking alternative sources of funds.
Thanks to marvellous local community support the concert raised over £2,500! The Wam Bam Band generously waived their usual fee as several local members have children who have enjoyed belonging to the Music Centre in the past. The bar, run by volunteers, donated their significant profits to the total raised.
The local businesses who provided raffle prizes were also most generous – Otto Café; Carly HAIR; Mitchell’s Artisan Butchery; Webster’s Café in the Wirksworth Heritage Centre; Le Mistral restaurant; and donations of whisky from Friends of the WMC. Sally-anne Swindell, owner of Marsden’s Gifts of Wirksworth kindly handled ticket sales.
The band was formed in 1998 as a soul band, with 15 members (now about 12 regulars) who are all local to the Wirksworth area.
Watch out for the Wam Bam Band Christmas gig on Saturday 16th December – you’ll be lucky if you can get a ticket!
To support the Wirksworth Music Centre, why not become a Friend of WMC by making a regular or one-off payment? This will help secure the future of the centre so it can continue to provide fun, educational and social music-making activities that support the wellbeing of young people in Wirksworth and the surrounding area. Details are on the website: https:// wirksworth-music-centre.org/donations