‘Emily,’ the pipe organ at St Mark’s Church, Upper Hale, needs your help! She is 103 and in desperate need of a complete overhaul. This work will cost £23,000 as she needs to be dismantled, the leatherworks replaced, the warped wooden parts machined and the 524 pipes cleaned, a handful of them replaced and then she will need to be tuned.

St Mark’s Church are appealing to the community to help save this local treasure by sponsoring a pipe for Christmas. Pipes can be sponsored anonymously or not, and those sponsoring them will be able to write who they are sponsoring it for. They will receive a certificate and the church will display all the names and notes that people write on a ‘Sponsoring a Pipe’ manuscript. There will be a celebratory concert once ‘Emily’ has been restore to which all those who have sponsored a pipe will be invited.

The Reverend Lesley Crawley, a priest at St Mark’s said, “Emily is a beautiful Edwardian pipe organ that is just over 100 years old. She is referred to as ‘Emily’ after her benefactor – Emily Mangles. Sadly, she has been used very rarely over the past three years because after a century of service she is in need of a complete overhaul. Once she is restored then she will be available for community events such as concerts, and for children who are learning the organ will be able to practice on her once again.”

To sponsor a pipe please send the note of who you are dedicating the pipe to and your  donation (payable to The Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale PCC) to St Mark’s Church, Alma Lane, Farnham, GU9 0LT. For further information or to ensure your donation is gift-aided then call the Reverend Lesley Crawley on 01252 820537.

The requested donations for sponsoring a pipe are as follows:

4′ pipe – donation £15.00

8′ pipe – donation £30.00

16′  pipe – donation £60.00