. NEWS
PAGE ( updated 25th April
2010)
The Mighty Grand Boys Van ! (
paid for by grant from Stirling Council ) Thanks!
GRAND BOYS' TRIP TO ITALY ?
I recently travelled by car to Brindisi in Italy with my son Sean with a view to playing gigs over there. It was only 1800 miles each way! but we really enjoyed this trip through France, Switzerland and in to Italy. We were invited over by my friend Antonio Varratta who spent a long time in Stirling and has now opened a lovely restaurant called 'The Grange' in his home town of Torre Santa Susanna near Brindisi in the south of Italy. He fed us every day with lovely Italian dishes and local wine produce from his restaurant served to us by his lovely staff Marianna and Sabrina and we thank them for that. The hospitality shown to us was tremendous and we will always treasure our memories from our first trip there. We were right down at the heel of Italy in amongst the vinyards and olive orchards with the temperature around 22 degrees and this was only April ! . I think The Grand Boys would go down well over there and it would be a challenge for me to try and pull this together with travel, accomodation, gear and time off work etc. to organise so I will speak to all the band members about this.
Antonio had fixed us up in San Nicola Bed & Breakfast on the outskirts of Torre Santa Susanna and the facilities were excellant and we were well looked after by Nicola himself and his helper Anna. If any of you people out there want to visit this part of Italy then this is the place to stay, have a look at the website and Antonio's restaurant, 'The Grange' is the place to eat .
We got back to Bannockburn safe and well with my car laden with local wine, local olive oil , pasta and freshly picked lemons and oranges and loads of other stuff given to us by Antonio and Nicola. We are really grateful to have such nice friends in a lovely spot in the south of Italy. We'll be back !
Here is a picture of ' The Grange' in Torre Santa Susanna where we dined as Antonio's guest. It boasts Quality Service, Logfire Oven, Large Variety of Local Wine, Specialized in Home Made Produce and a variety of Beers available . Tel. 338/8104807.
BOB'S TYING THE KNOT !
Bob Kelly who has performed with The Grand Boys for a good number of years now is marrying Pauline in Cyprus in May. On behalf of all connected to The Grand Boys I would like to give them our best wishes on their big day and lots of happyness in the future
GRAND
BOYS SHOP WINS GRANT AWARD ( March 2009 )
The
Grand Boys Shop was awarded £10,000 from The
Coalfields Trust in Alloa to Refurbish the Charity
Shop in Bannockburn. This is tremendous news for The
Grand Boys and we would like to thank Pauline Grandison
from The Coalfields Trust for all the help she gave
us in applying for the grant. The works are nearing
completion : new carpet tiles have been layed over
the whole shop, kitchen & toilet floor laminated,
CCTV installed outside shop, security doors fitted
inside shop, office refurbished, varios electrical
work carried out, new path around shop and shrubs
planted at front. This will make a vast improvement
for the volunteers and the general public using the
shop.
Grand
Boys Shop refurbishment 2009 To view Coalfields website
click here
GRAND BOYS HAND OVER £13,000 IN DEC.5TH 2009
After an excellant year of fundraising in 2009, £13,000 was handed over to various charities and worthy causes. This took place in The Grand Boys Charity Shop in Bannockburn. This was a tremendous amount of money that was raised and a big thankyou to all the volunteers in the shop and band members who give their time and talents to help others. During these hard economic times our charity shop which sells second hand furniture has never been busier.
The Beneficiares were: £1000 each to PKU (Yorkhill), Leukemia (Yorkhill), Cystic Vibrosis (Yorkhill), Down's Syndrome (Scotland), Breast Cancer Care (Scotland), Forth Valley Disability Sports, Ward 16 Stirling Ryal Infirmary, Strathcarron Hospice, MacMillan Cancer Care, MS Society (Scotland), CHAS. £500 each to St. Mary's Primary School, Bannockburn and Bannockburn Primary School, £200 each to five local nursing homes
This year will be a special year for all at The Grand Boys. We will be celebrating our 20th anniversary. Our first gig was in Bannockburn Community Centre on 28th December 1990 which was meant to be a one of gig to raise funds for PKU Research at Yorkhill Hospital. However 20 years on we are still performing and over £300,000 has been raised. Nowadays all funds raised go to various charities although Yorkhill is still dear to our hearts. Our charity shop opened in 1998 and has been very successful and has won some grants along the way.
Here's a nice picture of staff from Ward 16 at Stirling Royal Infirmary acknowledging their cheque for £1000 from The Grand Boys
NEW
GEAR FOR THE GRAND BOYS
We
have moved with the times and upgraded our band gear.
We are now the proud owners of Mackie powered speakers
and bass bins and a new multi core. This might mean
nothing to our punters but I can assure you it has
improved our sound ten fold and along with Bob Kelly's
effects 'toys' we now have more gear than Runrig !
( and better)
GRAND
BOYS CHEQUE PRESENTATION DAY SAT.29th NOV. 2008
All hard earned cash raised in
2008 got handed over to worthy causes. This took place
in The Grand Boys Charity Shop, Bannockburn on Saturday
29th November. Incredibly, over £14,000 is now
sitting in our high interest account. This money has
been raised from our charity shop, Grand Boys Band
and various functions throughout 2008. This is a tremendous
effort and thanks goes to ALL who have helped in any
way to raise this fantastic sum.
The event kicked off at 12 midday
and went on till 7pm. Cheques were handed over between
1 - 2pm. Music was supplied by The Grand Boys and
Honour Kills (formerly Organized Khaos). Tea/coffee
& sandwiches were laid on and a licenced bar available.
St. Mary's Primary School & Bannockburn Primary
provided a joint choir singing carols and the place
was heaving at this point. Loads of prizes were handed
in and a very successful prize draw took place raising
£140, tickets being sold by Roisin, Grace and
Erin - Well done girls !
Beneficiares this year were:
PKU (Yorkhill), Leukemia (Yorkhill),
Cystic Vibrosis (Yorkhill), Down's Syndrome (Scotland),
Breast Cancer Care (Scotland), Forth Valley Disability
Sports, Strathcarron Hospice, Ward 16 Stirling Royal
Infirmary, Macmillan Nurses, St Mary's Primary School,
Bannockburn Primary School, SSC and five local nursing
homes.
Contact John Griffin for more
info grandboys@hotmail.co.uk grandboys@hotmail.co.uk
or o07734238603
Cheque this ! Volunteers
handing over cheques to various charities
(sorry for the picture
quality but I'm working on it) It was taken by William
Muirhead from Whins of Milton and we would like to
thank him for arriving to take some snaps. His quality
of picture was so good I had difficulty transferring
these picts!
OVER
£14,000 RAISED IN 2008
The Grand Boys would like to thank
everyone who helped in 2008 to raise this tremendous
amount of money
Numerous charities and worthy
causes benifitted from this . See above.
HONOUR
KILLS ( Punk Band ) formerly
Organised Khaos
A new drummer, new material and
a new name, this young band has come on leaps and
bounds over the past few years and are worth seeing
to hear their brand of punk music. To view their web
site click here
CHEQUE
PRESENTATIONS 15th DECEMBER 2007
A total
of £9,500 was presented to various charities
and worthy causes at The Grand Boys Shop on the 15th
December 2007. This was a special Open Day and a great
crowd attended. Music was provided by The Grand Boys
and a joint choir performance by St Mary's Primary
School and Bannockburn Primary School. The event started
at 12 midday to 9pm. A licenced bar was provided along
with tea/coffee & sandwiches. The cheques were
presented between 1.00 - 2.00pm and all the charities
attended to recieve their cheques. It was a very successful
day and it really makes it all worthwhile. All this
money has been collected over 2007 from The Grand
Boys Shop, Band and general donations. A big thank
you to all who are giving their time to help others.
The beneficiaries were;
Downs syndrome
( Scotland ) - £1,000
Strathcarron
Hospice - £1,000
Metabolic
Activities Fund, Yorkhill Hospital - £1,000
Cardio Thoratic
Dept, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary - £1,000
Breast Cancer
Care Scotland - £1,000
Stirling
Royal Infirmary Ward 16 - £1,000
Forth Valley
Disability Sports - £1,000
Canavan
Brothers Fund - £1,000
St Mary's
Primary School - £500
Bannockburn
Primary School - £500
Five Nursing
Homes in the area Christmas Party Treats £100
each.
WORLD
RECORD BREAKERS
LONGEST CONCERT
BY A BAND 20th - 22nd February 2004
We are now official World Record
Breakers. The Grand Boys are now entered into the
famous Guinness Book of Records 2006 (page 172), they
have even put our photo in ! Our official time was
42 hours 38mins.These following names will go down
in Grand Boys folklore : Young Bob Kelly guitarist,
vocalist, whistle player, keyboarder (is it a word),
trumpeter it was this guy's idea to go for the record
and we all obliged. Adrian Robertson, guitarist, vocalist
with smoochie songs (bum grabbers) his speciality
could be classed as a Grand Boys' veteran now! Allan
Stewart, drummer and has banged a few drums for the
band over the years. Allan Marshall, guitarist and
more recently sax , a relatively newcomer to the band
but very much a dark horse, was there at the end of
the marathon gig. Bobby Kelly (daddy Bob) guitarist,
vocalist, a real pro with bags of experience and talent,
in line for player of the year 2006! Paul Bromley,
drums, the only Englishman to take part and ended
up singing Flower of Scotland at the finish, lives
up to the reputation that drummers are a race apart.
John Griffin, guitarist, vocalist, plays a bit bodhran
and still learning from the talent around him, enjoys
a guinness or two, the only origonal Grand Boy left.
Colin Sinclair,accordion, this man's a genius on the
box and always plays with a smile on his face. We
all had very sore fingers and very weak voices after
the effort but it was a great experience.
Of course these were the guys
who did it but no way could it have been done without
the help from so many people: organisers, witnesses,
doctors, supporters, sponsors, Smith's Restaurant
and staff. We really appreciated all this help that
we received. We raised around £5000
Click
here for pictures from the record attempt
GRAND BOYS
WIN MAJOR GRANT AWARDS in 2005
Stirling Council
This was the year we won our first
major grants and ensured the long term future of The
Grand Boys and our shop. Our first grant was £15,000
from Stirling Council Local Community Fund for to
purchase a brand new van. We are now proud owners
of a Peugeot Boxer van and it is making a big big
difference to our used furniture uplifting/delivery
service and also to our band equipment transportation
for charity gigs. We would like to thank Stirling
Council for this massive grant award.
..Increase
Programme ( Scottish Excecutive )
We were also successful in a major
grant award of £30,000 from The Scottish Executive
Increase Programme to have our Furniture Recycling
Centre in Bannockburn totally refurbished. The shop
was in very poor condition to the point of closing
down. The works began in October 2005 and should re
open sometime in April 2006. This date will be announced
soon. The shop has been transformed inside and outside
and should show a big increase in income and volunteers
when it is up and going again. A pitched roof was
fitted along with blocks and roughcast, a new disabled
access was constructed along with new white security
doors. Inside, heating was installed,three skylights,
new interior doors, new flush downlights and new band
practice area. We would also like to thank Increase
Programme for this award which will make a big difference
to many peoples lives.
..Awards
for All (Lottery)
The third grant success came from
the Awards for All (Lottery). We were awarded £5,000
to refit our kitchen/workshop area in the shop, complete
interior decor,new signage for shop,footpaths and
landscaping. A big thankyou for this grant which will
make a big difference to our shop.
.Finally we would like to thank
Pauline Douglas, Grants Officer at Stirling Council
for helping us with the grant application forms as
she played a big part in our successful bids.
THE
GRAND BOYS FURNITURE RECYCLING CENTRE
The Shop is doing really well
and is attracting visitors from all over. Why bin
your furniture when it can be used by other people.
Donate any unwanted furniture and household items
to shop and we raise money from the sale of your goods.
Its simple and very effective. We currently have six
volunteers in the shop who keep the shop open on a
rota. Opening hours are Mon - Frid 10.00am - 3.00pm
Sat. 10.00am - 2.00pm Sun. 12.00am - 2.00pm. Shop
tel. no. 01786 810868. .
Grand
Boys Beneficiaries
The Grand Boys now donate to various worthy causes.
Click on "Causes" for info.
THE
GRAND BOYS BAND
2008 has been a very
successful year for the Band and we have played at
very enjoyable gigs. The members are all very talented
musicions who give their time to entertain others
and raise money. They are; John Wardynec on drums,young
Bob Kelly on vocals, guitar.bass,keyboard (and others)
Colin Sinclair on accordion, John Griffin on vocals
& guitar, Bobby Kelly on vocals and lead guitar,
Allan Marshall on guitar and Adrian Robertson on vocals
bass and guitar.
.
Any news items that i've missed please
contact me John Griffin at grandboys@hotmail.co.uk
