Boost for pipers and drummers

Dumfries North West Community Campus was enriched by the skirl o’the pipes on Saturday thanks to the South West Scotland Piping and Drumming Academy.

The organisation works to raise the standard of, increase participation in, and raise enthusiasm for piping and drumming in the south-west of the country.

It also seeks to bring the region’s piping community together by providing a communications forum and network for pipers and drummers and pipe band leaders.

Some of the best teachers in the piping and drumming world are encouraging more young people to join in and learn.

The academy works with pipe bands and schools and directly with individuals giving bagpipe lessons, also using Skype or Zoom as a teaching medium for bagpipe lessons and drumming lessons.

The kinds of things the music institute can do include organising tutoring workshops and the summer school, encouraging and supporting tuition in schools and arranging performances and events.

In future, as funds allow, the academy also aims to provide financial assistance such as scholarships, bursaries and travel grants.

And tutors were delighted on Saturday when members of the Dumfries Lions Club attended sessions at the NWCC to present a much-welcomed cheque for £300 to piping tutor Billy Geddes to assist with the purchase of chanter and bagpipe reeds.

Club president John MacColl praised the ongoing work by the South West Scotland Piping and Drumming Academy.

He said: “The young pipers and drummers attend many local events and their performances are always admired by the public.”