The announcement came in response to a question from the DUP MLA during Question Time in the Assembly today.
Welcoming the announcement the Mrs Brownlee said, “The last round of the musical instruments fund was hugely oversubscribed, leading to just 10% of applicants being successful. This funding is very important to many of our marching bands and the DUP will continue to work with our bands to maximise the funding opportunities available to them.
I am delighted that the Communities Minister has allocated an additional £100,000 to the programme. He has estimated that it will see a further 8 bands benefit from it but importantly 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 there will obviously still be bands who are not successful, this announcement demonstrates a commitment to our marching bands and I particularly welcome the Communities Minister’s words today about the important role bands play not just an individual level in introducing many young people to playing an instrument, but the positive impact they have in communities across Northern Ireland.”