St Mary's is fundraising to offer four choral scholarships and one organ scholarship in the academic year 2021-2022. These will be paid positions for which we audition and interview candidates already in possession of significant musical training. The candidates will be young local people, either in school years 12 & 13 or having recently left school. The scholars will be paid to attend all sung services, offering a strong lead on each of the four voice parts.

The PCC have already pledged the funds needed to finance one scholarship and the church will be making applications to external organisations to finance three more. We are therefore looking for donations to meet the cost of at least one scholarship for one year: £1,300. If we reach that target, we will continue to fundraise in order to fund the scholarships for a longer period.

The presence of four choral scholars will greatly enhance the musical offerings of the St Mary's choir, enliven the choir's dynamic and bring new people into our church community. By extension, this will make the choir much more attractive to local voluntary singers looking to join a choir. The choral scholars will also provide positive role models to the members of Treblemakers, our Junior Choir.

Thank you for taking the time to read about this initiative and we hope you will feel able to support us as we invest together in the future of music at St Mary's.