Garforth · Leeds · Registered charity 1116537
Live brass, made in Garforth. Kept going by people like you.
A contesting band and a free-to-join training band, rehearsing every Wednesday at Garforth Methodist Church since 2005. Instruments, music, tuition and travel are paid for by donations, concerts — and now a weekly lottery.
This week at the band
- Training band
- Wednesday 6:30–7:20pm
- Full band rehearsal
- Wednesday 7:30–9:00pm
- Lottery draw
- Wednesday 8pm, at rehearsal
Garforth Methodist Church, Church Lane, Garforth LS25 1NW. New players of any age welcome — no experience needed for the training band.
Garforth Brass — registered charity in England and Wales no. 1116537
Registered with the Fundraising Regulator · Est. 2005, Garforth, Leeds
What we do
Two bands, one charity
Everything Garforth Brass does is run by volunteers and paid for by fundraising. Here is where the money goes.
The contesting band
Our senior band competes at the Yorkshire regional championships and at local march, hymn and entertainment contests, and rehearses every Wednesday evening at Garforth Methodist Church.
Rehearsing every Wednesday, 7:30–9pm
The training band
Free instruments, music and tuition for absolute beginners and early-stage players of any age — the stepping stone many of our senior players started on.
Free tuition, instrument and music
Concerts and community
Concerts, bandstands, remembrance parades, Christmas carolling and private engagements across Garforth and East Leeds, with a repertoire from brass classics to jazz and pop.
Playing across East Leeds year-round
Open days and Friends
Every October the public can try brass and percussion instruments and take a first lesson; the Friends of Garforth Brass scheme keeps supporters close to the band.
Try-an-instrument day every October
2005
Band formed on 1 January 2005
Source: Band history
2006
Registered charity since October 2006
Source: Charity Commission
2
Ensembles: contesting band and training band
Source: Band website
£0
Cost of instrument, music and tuition in the training band
Source: Band website
The Garforth Brass Lottery
A pound a week that keeps the band playing
Every Wednesday evening the numbers are drawn at rehearsal. 50p of every £1 stays with the band; the rest funds the prizes and the running of the draw.
- Ticket
- £1 a week
- Draw
- Wednesday 8pm
- Top prize
- £1,000
Odds of the top prize: 1 in 10,626 per entry — see the lottery page for every tier.
Pick your numbers
Choose 4 from 1–24, or take a lucky dip. Play once or subscribe.
We draw at rehearsal
Every Wednesday at 8pm, witnessed by two committee members.
The band gets half
50p of every pound goes straight to instruments, music and tuition. Winners are emailed directly.
Recent winners
Real draws, protected identities
Winners are published as initials and town only. The rows below are the most recent results; the full list is on our winners page.
K. H., Garforth
First prize · 12 August 2026
£1,000
R. P., Kippax
Second prize · 12 August 2026
£50
S. M., Crossgates
Third prize · 12 August 2026
£5
Our story
From a Christmas busk to twenty years of banding
Garforth Brass began with a handful of players busking over Christmas 2004 and became a band on 1 January 2005. Second place at its first Yorkshire regional contest, a national final in Harrogate, a merger with the Garforth Jubilee band after the pandemic — the story is one of a town keeping its band.
Read the full story“To ensure the continued existence of a brass band in Garforth, it was decided to merge with Garforth Jubilee Brass Band. Since the merger, Garforth Brass has experienced nearly full attendance at almost every rehearsal.”
Keep in touch
Concert dates and band news
A few emails a year — concerts, contest results and what your support paid for.