Sponsorship history
Originally the Kinneil Colliery band, the future looked grim for them when the pit closed in 1983.

But a conversation that year between the NUM pit delegate and NUPE's Ron Curran at the STUC led to NUPE taking over the sponsorship.

UNISON carried this on when NUPE, NALGO and COHSE merged in 1995.

The 28 band members come from a variety of backgrounds including industry, the health service and students.

Championship prize for UNISON Kinneil Band

One point and one place was all that stopped the UNISON Kinneil Band from being first in Britain at the 1999 Boosey & Hawkes National Brass Band Championships.

The band, who went into the finals as reigning Scottish Champions are delighted with the second place but some observers feel they were good enough on the day to win.

Band secretary Robert Doherty said "We are now looking forward to a long run in the Championship section”.

The competition came after seven months of area competitions the length and breadth of the country with 16 bands (two from each area) qualifying for the finals held last in Nottingham's Royal Concert Hall.......................................

Kinneil's achievement is all the more rewarding since it was the band's first attempt after returning to the Championship Section.

They had moved in the last few years between that and the First section since the Championship Section was cut from 15 to 10 bands.