Like many groups, Godalming Band has reimagined its activities this year, replacing the sight of a traditional brass band in the street with a virtual band popping up on screens at home.

Through the summer, members of the band recorded six videos from their own homes and pieced the recordings together to share with the community in Godalming and around the world. These included performances of Over the Rainbow and Song for the Frontline in support of the vital keyworkers putting their lives on the line every day.

With nine months passing since the last group rehearsal in the Farncombe bandroom and nearly a year since the last paying job for the band, members have started a crowdfunding effort to fundraise and replenish the band's funds. This was launched in November as part of a national #SaveOurBrassBands campaign, led by broadcaster and baritone player Melanie Sykes and organised by Brass Bands England.

Brass bands across the country saw their main source of income disappear in an instant when they had to stop putting on performances in March in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A significant loss in income over the summer months, paired with the expenditure needed to make rehearsal spaces Covid compliant, means that many brass bands are in a perilous financial situation.

Consequently, Crowdfunder and Brass Bands England teamed up to launch #SaveOurBrassBands, a national campaign to save hundreds of UK brass bands struggling to survive the pandemic.

Since the campaign started, players Julie Rowling and Dominic Cleal have shared videos about Godalming Band, which has led to the band raising over £700 within two weeks of the campaign going live.

Since then it's become a central part of her family life, with husband Keith Rowling, chairperson of Godalming Band, and their two children all playing.

Godalming Band has its own bandroom in Broadwater Park in Farncombe, which Dominic explains in his video is "one of our main operating costs and what we want to keep for when we get back together in 2021."

It provides the charity with space for both its senior and youth bands to rehearse, teach students and store its music.

The fundraising campaign for Godalming Band has so far raised over £700 and will be continuing until 22nd December. The band hopes to reach its ambitious £2,000 target by then to help cover its continuing operating and maintenance costs, ready for a return in 2021.

Many exciting rewards are on offer for donations, including the chance to conduct the band at a public performance, or to choose music or a hymn for the band to play.

Godalming Band has been in existence in its current form since 1937, and includes a Youth Band teaching children from the age of seven to 17 to play and enjoy music together.

The band hosts concerts each year and plays at many local events in and around the town, including charity events, as well as regional contests. It is self-supporting, thanks to the generosity of local residents to provide funds for instruments, music and uniforms for both the senior and youth band.

To find out more about the project, or to donate, visit the Crowdfunder site or the band's website.