A message from Team Rector, the Revd Rebecca Harris

A big THANK YOU to everyone who supported the sponsored organ event last Saturday 28 February. It was wonderful to see so many people come through our doors, sponsor a hymn or two, sponsor Ian, join in with the singing, and purchase refreshments. And also to everyone who made and sold cakes and refreshments, and to the choir and all who helped to keep Ian going throughout the day. It was a wonderful community event and we are very grateful to everyone, and not least Ian, for undertaking this event and for persevering through to the end!

We raised approximately £2000 last Saturday, which is a wonderful result! If you sponsored Ian but haven’t yet contributed your sponsorship money, please could you do so as soon as possible? You can do this through the QR code on the posters around All Saints, a direct bank transfer (use reference 'organ') or make out a cheque payable to Westbury PCC (Organ appeal), or bring the cash to church with you next time.

So we are well on the way to reaching the target of £11,500 for the organ appeal. Ian was thrilled with this result and very grateful to everyone who supported him on the day.

Coffee morning on Thursday 12 March for the Organ appeal

Our next event will be a coffee morning on Thursday 12 March from 10.00 am – 12.00 noon at the home of Wendy Wood. There will be coffee, cakes, and various stalls.

Please come along and support this if you can.

A message from our Director of Music Ian McManus

Please can you forward my personal thanks to everyone who helped out on Saturday?

I am very grateful to everyone who helped to make the day such a success. I would like to thank the choir for their perseverance in singing for two and half hours of hymns! No mean feat and they did well on Sunday morning. I would also like to thank Caroline for providing the soup, quiches and cakes for lunch. Thanks to Ron and Chris for the Fish & Chips and for the wine! Thanks too, to Beth who came to sing along at the end and then to everyone else who came to see me through the last 20 mins. If you all hadn’t been there, I don’t think I could’ve got over the line. It really was a team effort and I am so grateful for the help and support. Thanks also to those who helped out at the back sorting the refreshments and providing me with tea!

Overall, it was an incredibly successful day which far surpassed any of my expectations. I have at least £125 to come from sponsorship money and Stormore Baptist Chapel sponsored £100 which will come through the bank. That puts the total to over £2,000 and I’m sure more people gave online before the event. We should be somewhere around the £9,000 mark or more. But we cannot rest on our laurels. It would be fantastic to raise more than the £11,000 needed so that we can keep improving the organ for future generations to come.

Again, thank you to everyone who helped and supported the event. I am humbled and very grateful for all of you.