A FOLK and bagpipe band based in Cwmbran have had their future secured after being awarded a community grant of more than £12,000. 

Piping Hot Folk Band, a fiercely proud Welsh-Celtic band, have recently been given a grant of £12,915 from the National Lottery Community Fund along with other donations from local councillors, Cwmbran Community Council, Blaenavon Town Council, Asda and M Cwmbran, formerly known as the Cwmbran Centre. 

The grant will enable the band, who first started out in January 2021, to purchase new drums and other equipment to enable them to continue to support the more than 60 community events they have in the calendar until the end of the year. 

The band hopes to be able to expand their reach to a wider audience in the coming years, resulting in two bands - an adult and junior - and in order to support this, they are developing links with other community groups in the area, such as The Boys Brigade, Cadet Forces, Youth Clubs and the Scouts. 

Piping Hot has a wide range of members of all agesPiping Hot has a wide range of members of all ages (Image: Steve Parker) Piping Hot have a variety of members, with ages ranging from seven to seventy, and everyone welcomed regardless of gender, religion, sexual orientation or disability. 

Pipe Major Steve Parker explained: "This grant from the National Lottery and other generous donations  will enable us to free up our current set of old drums for use by learner drummers. Our current set of drums are now very old and battered, and are rapidly coming to the end of their playing lives.

"We hope to purchase drums produced by Flint Percussion which are extremely light weight. This will mean our young members will be able to carry them and it will extend the playing life of our older members."

The band are going to use the grant to purchase new drums which will secure their future (Image: Steve Parker) He continued: "We would also like to be able to issue sets of bagpipes to any new member not in a position to purchase their own. Most pipers do purchase their own going on personal preference, but costing over £1000 for a set it’s beyond the reach of some, especially during these difficult financial times."

If you would like to find out more you can contact Steve Parker on 07479 957341 or email him at pipinghot85@gmail.com.