Busy Christmas of bookings for Humberside Police Band – believed to be the world’s oldest band of its kind

A band that has been making its performing presence felt across the whole of the Humber region for over 160 years is building towards a busy December.

Humberside Police Concert Band and Corps of Drums, to give it its full title, is appearing at a number of events this festive season, culminating in its annual charity Christmas concert. In aid of its chosen cause for 2024, North & East Yorkshire County – Royal British Legion, the band will play at Hessle ’s All Saints’ Church, on Friday, December 13, at 7.30pm, before its members take a well-earned break for a “reset” into the new year.

Brent Read, the band’s director of music, said: “This year the band’s charity is the Royal British Legion. Over Remembrance Weekend, we were once again proud to be on stage at the City Hall as house band for the Festival of Remembrance, for which the band donated its services free of charge.

“Our next big fundraiser for the Legion will be our Charity Christmas Concert on December 13. We are keen to fill All Saints’ Church in Hessle for the event, which will be our last engagement of the year.”

Ahead of the Hessle concert, Humberside Police Band will be performing at the Dove House Hospice Light up a Life service, on Wednesday, December 4; Goole ’s Christmas concert on Saturday, December 7; Beverley Festival of Christmas on Sunday, December 8, when there will be two appearances by the musicians; and the All For One choir Christmas concert, on Wednesday, December 11. It is all go for the band, which has just under 30 members at present, including a newly-founded drum corps.

Formerly the Kingston upon Hull Police Band, founded in 1861, Humberside Police Band is certainly the oldest continuous police band in the UK and possibly the world. Brent, who joined the band on clarinet in 1977 at the age of 17, said: “We did some research earlier this year and found a press cutting that confirmed the Metropolitan Police founded its police band in 1861.

“A few weeks after that Kingston upon Hull founded its band, and the Met band doesn’t exist anymore, so we are the oldest continuous police band in the UK. We’ve not managed to prove that we’re the oldest in the world but we’d like to think so.”

While the band ceased playing across the two World Wars, it has always existed. Even during an 18-month hiatus for the Covid pandemic, the band continued with virtual performances.

Brent, who took up the conductor’s baton in 2005, said: “The band members recorded bits and pieces in their own homes, sent them to me and I stitched them together. We tried to do that every couple of months and people could watch on our YouTube channel.”

The band takes part in civic parades, indoor and outdoor concerts, and is able to provide smaller ensembles, such as its sax quartet or 12-piece concert band, for more specialist occasions. While people may be under the impression that band members must be serving police officers, that is not the case, as the majority are volunteer, civilian members, who come from as far afield as Lincoln and Wakefield to take part. However, while on band duty, they are all Community Safety Volunteers, part of the Communities Command within Humberside Police.

Anyone aged over 16 and with a grade six standard of musicianship can apply to join the band. Humberside Police Concert Band plays a vast repertoire of music including military classics, pop, selections from the stage and screen, and Last Night of the Proms-style finales.

The band undertakes about 25 engagements per year mainly in the Humberside Police area and rehearse twice a week, on Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings, in the band room at Sensor House in Beverley. For more information, you can email humbersidepoliceband@gmail.com

For tickets to the charity Christmas concert, which cost £10 each, please email tickets@humbersidepoliceband.co.uk