Following their recent disappointing result at the All England Masters International Championship at Cambridge the Scottish Co-op Band have bounced back with a busy period of activity.
On 1st June, 2008 the band took part in the first semi-final of the West Lothian Challenge at the Regal Community Theatre in Bathgate and progressed to the final after beating off the challenge of Unison Kinneil Band. The Co-op, under the direction of Russell Gray, was awarded 195 points by adjudicator Peter Roberts and will now go forward to the final on 22nd June, 2008 where it will meet the Whitburn band who were the winners of the second semi-final which took place at the same venue on 8th June, 2008.
On the morning of 8th June, 2008 the band, under the direction of Archie Hutchison, recorded a programme of music at the Henry Wood Hall in Glasgow and the programme will be broadcast at a later date on BBC radio.
Immediately the band had finished the recording it travelled to New Lanark where it took part in the Robert Owen Celebration Day at the New Lanark World Heritage Site. The band were one of a number of different groups which provided entertainment for visitors, and performers included an accordionist and piper, a barbershop quartet, and members of the Clydebank Dance School. This event was one of a series of concerts which the band has been giving and which have been organised in conjunction with the Co-operative to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the death of Robert Owen. On this occasion, the band presented a programme of light music under the baton of Raymond Tennant.
Over the next week the band will be preparing for the final of the West Lothian Challenge competition which takes place on 22nd June, 2008 at the Regal Community Theatre in Bathgate where the band will face the challenge of old rivals, the Whitburn band. A great contest is anticipated!