The United COOP Brass Band - History
United Co-op 2000 Brass were formed as a section 4 band at the end of 1989 from the musicians of the former South Cheshire Young Brass after many of the players became too old to complete in competitions as a youth band.Right from the beginning, for over 25 years the band has been managed by Joan Wearne who has worked incredibly hard on behalf of the band and its members. At the time of the change to a senior band they were very fortunate to gain sponsorship from the Co-op. This has given the band financial stability for nearly 17 years, for which they are very grateful.
1994 was a significant year in the bands development in that under the guidance of David Newton, their conductor at the time, they qualified and attended the 4th section National Brass Band Finals at the Wembley Arena for the very first time and also manages to obtain a Lottery grant of £40,000 towards the cost of new instrumentation. They again qualified for the National Finals in 1998 and were promoted into the 2nd section but unfortunately were not ready for this challenge and subsequently were demoted back to the 3rd section in 2000. They remained in the 3rd section until 2004 when under the direction of the current MD Jamie Meredith they found their true form and were promoted back into the 2nd section after qualifying for the National Finals in Harrogate. The following year they again qualified for the National Finals as well as winning or being placed in several other national competitions. The band is now aiming to gain promotion into the 1st section within the next two years.