Our People 

As BBE’s Programmes and Fundraising Director, Sarah keeps our activities running smoothly, supports our team to do their best work, and helps turn big ideas into reality. She leads on everything from project delivery to building partnerships and shaping our strategy, always with a focus on making sure BBE makes great work happen. Sarah is also the Chair of Trustees at the youth music development charity AMP. Outside of work, she can usually be found in her big yellow camper-van Bella 🐝

Beth joined the team in February 2023, and has enjoyed over 13 years of working within the UK charity sector, with a particular focus on fundraising, bid writing and strategy development.

Outside of BBE, she runs a Community Interest Company which provides vulnerable adults and young people with access to rhythm-based workshops, including percussion, brass, and voice, as well as supporting various other charities with their fundraising needs on a consultancy basis. She also manages large scale house music festivals during the summer months.

Beth runs our Fundraising Service as well as leading the Membership Services team. She offers support to bands with project development and management, governance training, fundraising, bid writing and data collection. She also runs our Evaluation Service.

Beth is passionate about helping organisations turn their project ideas into reality, with several recent successes securing Arts Council England and National Lottery Heritage funding on behalf of our member bands. She loves nothing more than meeting with our bands, hearing their unique ideas and then turning those ideas into fundable projects! Although not a brass bander herself, in her spare time Beth plays percussion as part of an ensemble at music festivals and other events across the country - creating a very different, but equally impactful sound!

Sara joined the BBE team in July 2023. She comes from a Recruitment background, recruiting most recently for the NHS. She previously worked in Operational Management for the Automobile Association. While not a bander, Sara is a very keen member of her local community choir who perform concerts locally and next year will perform abroad, which is very exciting. Sara enjoys helping bands to get the most out of their membership of Brass Bands England.

Sue has been a heritage learning specialist for almost 30 years working in both employed and freelance capacities for many heritage organisations around the country. Sue has also worked as a peripatetic music teacher for several Midlands music services and as Director of Learning for Orchestra of the Swan and Education Adviser for the Academy of Ancient Music. Sue is a lifelong brass bander having started on cornet aged 7 (under the tutorship of Dennis Masters) and then aged 9, moved on to euphonium and over the years, has been a member of various Midlands-based bands (Sovereign Brass, Langley, Stourport on Severn). Since moving to Cornwall in 2021, she held principal seats at St Austell Town Brass Band and Lostwithiel Town Band. She also performs in her own costumed music group, A Merrie Noyse (www.merrienoyse.com). Sue is a current trustee for 2 museums and a retired board member for The Group for Education in Museums (GEM).

Abi joined BBE in 2024. Coming from a background in cultural events and festivals. Previous roles include Assistant Curator at the Farrel Centre at the University of Newcastle, Assistant Curator of Liverpool Biennial 2021 and Project Coordinator for Yorkshire Sculpture International 2019. Roles with Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and UniBrass have cemented the desire to support music provision and access to music in the community.

Learning to play the cornet (and clarinet!) through free school provision in Yorkshire ignited a lifelong dedication to brass bands and to music education. Following her music studies at Huddersfield under Phillip McCann, she built a rich career in the Midlands, including a successful private tutoring practice, 14 years leading secondary music and performing arts, and 6 years in a primary setting. Having made a move away from the classroom in 2024, Sheila is fully focused on her role as BBE's Brass Foundations Manager. This position has allowed her to crystallise the highlights of her teaching and tutoring career into impactful national programmes - from delivering the Future Leaders' Programme to creating and expanding BBE's educational resources, to promoting and supporting the joy of brass banding across the country.

Naomi joined Brass Bands England in October 2025 as Content and CRM Officer. With a background in digital content, websites, and CRM systems, she enjoys bringing structure and clarity to complex information and improving how people experience BBE online. While she isn’t a bander herself, Naomi enjoys working with community-led organisations and supporting people to feel confident using digital platforms. Outside of work, she loves being creative, getting outdoors, and dog sitting, often combining work with adventures in new places.

Deirdre (Dee) Waller-Box joined the Brass Bands England team with a career spanning music education, youth music and community music-making. From leading music departments in London schools to developing whole-class brass programmes, running adult learner courses and conducting community ensembles, Dee is passionate about making brass playing accessible, inclusive and enjoyable for everyone. At Brass Bands England, Dee leads work focused on engaging and supporting 18–24-year-olds, creating opportunities for young adults to develop as musicians, leaders and active members of the brass band community. Alongside her role at BBE, Dee is the Senior Lead for Inclusive Music Making at Camden Music. She also conducts ensembles at Amersham Band and London Metropolitan Brass, and is a Director of Big Door Broadcast, a live-stream events company. Dee is committed to helping people of all ages discover the lifelong benefits of making music together and strengthening the role of brass bands within their communities.

Chloe joined BBE in January 2022, swapping various roles in the theatre world (all behind the scenes) for brass bands. Although she’s not a bander, she was raised in a former mining town where band heritage runs deep, and thus has been watching performances for as long as she can remember. Chloe studied Creative Writing at Sheffield Hallam University, which did come in handy for writing fiction (she has one short story published) but mostly gave her the editing skills a marketer needs. She’s responsible for the GIFS you’ll find on X (formerly Twitter), which are determined by whatever she’s watching at the time.

Eiry joined BBE in October 2025. She grew up in South Wales and joined the brass band world when she started playing the cornet. When moving to Yorkshire, she joined Crofton Silver Band and is now principal cornet there. She studied BSc Music, Multimedia and Electronics, and MA Music Management at the University of Leeds, and has a background in hospitality operations.

She co-runs a music promotion platform ffin that showcases Welsh artists in Yorkshire. and is involved in the running of Croton Music Trust. The charity, located in Wakefield, provides free brass tuition, instruments and music to both children and adults in the area.