Welcoming the announcement the Carla said, “the marching bands fraternity in Northern Ireland is huge and as a result the last round of the musical instruments fund was heavily oversubscribed with just 10% of applicants being successful. This funding over the years has been a lifeline to many of our bands who do so much with young people and music.

I am delighted that the Communities Minister has allocated an additional £100,000 to the programme and have made representation for much more to be channeled in the coming months and years. 

This will allow for a further 8 bands to benefit from it.  It will not require a new application process but will come from those bands who were on the reserve list from the last funding round. 

Whilst this does not plug the shortfall it helps demonstrate clearly a commitment to our marching bands.  I have always been an advocate and a champion of our marching bands and have on a yearly basis helped bands access this funding with the help of the Ulster Scots Community Network.”