A COMMUNITY band in Sutton has beaten entertainers from across Craven to win a prestigious award.

Sutton’s Got Brass came first in the Arts and Culture section of the Craven Community Champions Awards.

Members of the band, which meets at Sutton Community Primary School, were shocked and delighted to receive the prize when they attended the awards evening at the Coniston Hotel near Skipton.

Band secretary Kevin Allack said he and his fellow members felt like they were at the BAFTAs.

He said it was “truly inspiring” to learn about the work of other groups across Craven during the evening.

He said: “So many people and organisations are giving up their time and their energy to help provide services and community involvement to complete strangers.

“If you look at the Craven District Council website, you can read about all the amazing things that these and other groups do in our area.

“In our section were an art group, a dance group and ourselves. We were honoured to be on the short list. No one joins a brass band for fame and recognition or sets one up – but it’s nice when someone says well done.”

Mr Allack, a teaching assistant at Sutton CP School, said Sutton’s Got Brass welcomed anyone with an inclination to be in a brass band.

He added: “We take them from whatever level they are, on the journey to where they want to be and having a lot of fun in the process.”

Mr Allack paid tribute to Fiona Beetles, the Sutton school’s head teacher, for having the “vision and drive” to successfully apply for a lottery grant to start the band.

Sutton’s Got Brass, which was formed in 2014, won the Arts and Culture Award. The group offers free tuition, free loan of a brass instrument and subs of £1 per week. Members range from pensioners to primary school children.

The Craven Community Champions Awards, are now in their fifth year, and are run by Craven Council in conjunction with the Telegraph & Argus’s sister paper, the Craven Herald.