BandSafe Support from Brass Bands England

This October Heidi Bradley, founder of BandSafe, was invited to present at the NSPCC’s Annual Council Meeting in London. Speaking as an ambassador for Brass Bands England in front of over 200 supporters of the charity, Heidi was asked to talk about her ‘pioneering work’ in aiming to develop a safe culture within the brass band community. Heidi shared her personal story of how BandSafe came about and the journey it has taken up to the present day, where it is now a part of Brass Bands England’s core delivery strategy.

Speaking after the event Heidi told A4B: “It was an honour to be asked to speak by the NSPCC to champion BandSafe and share my journey with it. They have always been great supporters of the project, but to be given the opportunity to share this as an example of good practice within the world of Safeguarding made me very proud of what has been achieved.”

Regarding BandSafe Heidi continued, “There are currently over 300 Bands registered on the BandSafe site able to access resources and support. I am so pleased that Brass Bands England have embedded this work into their core strategy and I look forward to watching it grow further in their very capable hands. I have now formally handed the resource over to Brass Bands England, but will continue to promote this work as a volunteer Safeguarding Ambassador for them.”

Brass Bands England’s Sophie Anderson told A4B: “It is incredibly rewarding to see the work of Brass Bands England being celebrated by as renowned an organisation as the NSPCC. And to have the pioneering work we have done with BandSafe promoted at a national event, to an audience outside of our own playing community is simply fantastic. It is a real credit to the tireless efforts Heidi has put in to the project over the past 10 years.”

Sophie added “BandSafe is a superb online toolkit that is free and accessible to all Brass Bands. We are currently working in partnership with the NSPCC to develop a face-to-face training program to sit alongside the online tool, providing a further layer of support to bands. Tickets are on sale for our pilot workshop in the South East, hosted by SCABA in Spring 2019, with further sessions running later in the year. BandSafe can be accessed via our website https://www.bbe.org.uk/what-we-do/bandsafe“.

When asked what Heidi will be up to next she told us, “Now that BandSafe is in safe hands I can get back to fundraising for the NSPCC. Through ‘Rambling Brass’ I have raised over £4000 from events that have involved walking and playing up mountains, cross country and on many hilltops across the UK. Next year I would like to walk and play along the Yorkshire Wolds Way. I’ll be looking for fellow musicians to join me either for part or all of the walk. Anyone interested can get in touch with me at [email protected]“.