The Friends of Saint George’s Church - Newsletter Summer 2011

Summer is here, and so it is a good time to bring you up to date with all that has been achieved in the first half of 2011.

A lot seems to have happened since our AGM on Advent Sunday 2010. First of all, and thanks to a generous grant of £2,200 from the Elmley Foundation, we have been able to purchase the third and final batch of folding chairs, and a stacking trolley to accommodate them. These arrived in January, and have already been put to good use at several large functions in church. Equally importantly, they will be available for the Three Choirs Concert at Saint George’s Church on Saturday, 13th August 2011.

In March, the combined forces of the Volcano Choir, the St George's School choir and Drumlove gave a glorious and uplifting concert in church, raising funds both for the school and the Friends.

Immediately after Easter, and thanks to a grant of £10,000 from the Seven Waste Environmental Fund, the electrical contractor was able to complete the relighting of the side aisles and transepts. This means that the entire main body of the Church has been fitted with a new and attractive high-efficiency lighting system, complete with dimmer controls. Only the chancel now remains to be completed.

In June, the Friends organised their third annual Barn Dance, with music by The Organ Grinders, to which we were again glad to welcome local families for a jolly and energetic evening.  In July, the Friends provided the barbecue at the St George’s Summer Fair, and by mid afternoon had completely sold out of some 200 hot dogs and burgers!

Our efforts are now turning towards the final challenge, the restoration of our fine Nicholson organ . At the end of last year we received a grant of £5000 from the Rowlands Trust towards the work on the organ, and another Trust has indicated that they have in mind a grant of £5000. This is indeed timely and welcome good news, as the blower for the organ is now exceedingly noisy and its motor is running rather hot, and after 60 years is clearly close to the end of its working life. We have also discovered that the existing blower has insufficient capacity both for the existing and future wind requirements of the instrument.  We are in the process of applying for a Faculty for the restoration of the organ, and funds permitting we hope to be able to have a new and larger blower installed before Christmas this year. This will be a first significant step in the restoration of the organ, and we shall be approaching a number of other trusts, seeking their support. The total cost is likely to be in excess of £100,000, but we have been assured by the experts that the Saint George's organ is intrinsically a very fine instrument, and well worth restoring. It will certainly be an invaluable resource for teaching and concerts, as well as its regular use at Sunday services.

Finally I'm glad to be able to report that The Friends have been able to contribute £500 towards the repayment of the diocesan loan in February, and a further £800 in July this year.

If you are already a member of The Friends, thank you for your continuing support of our work. If not, please do seriously consider becoming a Member.