St Wilfrid’s Church’s Choral Scholarship Scheme is now approaching its second birthday, which will be celebrated there with a free organ recital by its Director of Music Tim Carpenter at 7pm on Sunday 11th January. A retiring collection will raise funds for the scheme.

This aims to support young choristers local to the Haywards Heath area. Open to people between the ages of 12 to 18, the scholarships provide tuition, travel expenses etc for singing regularly with the church choir during the school terms, with the hope of inspiring a love and knowledge of the sacred choral canon. St Wilfrid’s choir sings chronologically and stylistically wide-ranging anthems and other sacred music at the weekly 9.30am Sunday Eucharist and 6pm Second Sunday Choral Evensong services.

The Choral Scholarship Scheme is sustained mainly from donations made at the church’s series of 7pm post-Evensong free recitals. These showcase singers and instrumentalists from London to Brighton and have included piano, organ, saxophone and solo singer recitals and chamber music, from Bach, Scarlatti, Brahms and Debussy to Szymanowski, Keith Jarrett and Elton John. They resume on 11th January. Visit the church website (www.stwilfridshaywardsheath.org.uk) and search events.

St Wilfrid’s Church, overlooking South Road, was dedicated in 1865 to the man who introduced Sussex to Christianity and Roman psalm-singing. Its excellent acoustics and fine Tickell pipe organ (1998) have long established it as a popular concert venue for local musical groups such as the Hayward Heath Music Society. It also hosts Ardingly Choral Society’s annual Mid Sussex Remembrance Concert.