The Sandhouse Stompers Coast to Coast Mardi Gras was a huge success. As well as raising a game-changing £3,747 for Favela Brass, it was also a great opportunity for the project to make new connections, and to renew existing ones.

Over 9 days the band (pictured below) travelled 120 miles from Morecambe to Whitby, each day walking for 6-8 hours before playing their hearts out at the next local venue on the route. All through the trip a continuous stream of donations came in from family, friends and amazed locals (it’s not every day that a nine-piece band turns up in your local pub and starts belting out New Orleans jazz!)

Nothing that I could write here could adequately thank the musicians for what they have done on behalf of the children in the Favela Brass Project, and especially trombonist Stuart Garside for conceiving, planning, and organizing the whole thing. I will leave the final word to Stuart:

“A big thank you to everyone who has donated, there have been some very generous amounts of money donated and it will make a huge difference to a lot of young people. Thank you to the venues who made us really welcome. Thank you to everyone who came along and supported, especially those who traveled long distances to see us, but most of all thank you to an incredible group of talented musicians who really suffered a lot of physical pain, dug deep and put on 10 high-energy shows in 9 days. Not once did anyone complain. You are good people.”


The Sandhouse Stompers: Paul Grady, Neil Morley, Stuart Garside, Gareth Smith, James Stretton, Mark Kerrigan, Rowena Smith and Mark Ellis

Stuart Garside (centre) navigating the group across the moors.