Church Choir Award
The Church Choir Award, run in partnership with Cathedral Music Trust, recognises the crucial contribution of churches to choral and organ music. Recipients of the Church Choir Award received funding towards specific projects as well as a year’s Group Membership of the RSCM and access to Voice for Life Digital®.
Types of project funded previously have included
- A variety of outreach programmes
- Provision for bursary funding and scholarship schemes
- Different resources for recruitment
See previous recipients, below, for more details.
‘I could feel the standard of musicianship rise week by week’
‘given space for our junior choristers to learn repertoire and to grow in confidence and musicality … [the grant] indirectly led to a flourishing treble line’
2025 Recipients
Boston, St Botolph
Funding will help the choir to provide support for transport to remove barriers to being in the choir.
‘The award will allow us to support disadvantaged choristers and enable them to grow their musical skills as valued members of our historic, living choral tradition, reducing barriers to access for young people, caused by the combination of our rural setting and a lack of access to private transport.’ – John Lyon
Newcastle, St Gabriel
Funding will help the choir to recruit two choral scholars to mentor young singers, lead services, and assist with Kodály-based training for 5–13-year-olds.
‘This award helps us offer something rare: free, high-quality musical training for children who might otherwise miss out. Our new choral scholars will not only inspire and support young singers—they’ll also grow as leaders themselves, gaining invaluable and personally tailored experience in education, mentoring, and choral leadership.’ – Tim Burke, Choir Director
Guildford, Holy Trinity
Funding will help the choir to set up a ‘Changing Voices Programme’ to support both boy and girl choristers through voice change.
‘This funding will significantly improve the support we can provide to choristers going through voice change. Not only will this help these boys and girls at a difficult time, but it will also enable them to continue singing, enriching our choir and the wider choral scene into their teenage years.’ – Nick Graham
Earley, St Peter
Funding will help the choir to provide singing lessons, workshops, ‘Be a Chorister’ days, cathedral visits and social events.
‘This award will allow us to develop our Song School set-up and provide additional initiatives such as singing lessons, recruitment drives, socials and outreach events. The Song School is an important part of our church and we hope the children involved will benefit greatly from this grant.’ – Ben de Souza, Director of Music
Bradford Catholic Youth Choir
Funding will help the choir provide an additional Choral Director at rehearsals to support young singers through vocal transitions, lead sectionals for those moving from junior to senior choirs, and found two changing voices groups.
‘Our singers are drawn from state schools across Bradford, one of the most deprived cities in the country. This grant will enable us to give extra musical and technical support to these children at key transitions in their vocal lives, ensuring the many benefits of choral singing last a lifetime.’ – Craig Perkinton, Choral Director
Merton Park, St Mary the Virgin
Funding will help to create a weekly Music Theory and Musicianship club.
‘This award will allow us to provide more tuition to our choristers, developing their skills they use on a weekly basis already. It’ll be transformational for our youngest choristers in particular, who can grow their musicianship further, and can impact the wider community too, potentially helping with chorister recruitment.’ – Tristan Weymes
St Martin in Roath
Funding will help to establish a junior section of their Liturgical Choir.
‘This award will allow us to establish a junior section to our Liturgical Choir with a dedicated animateur to enthuse and train a new generation of choristers. This fills a missing link in our music programme and will assist us with our missionary work among young people.’ – Timothy Hill, Director of Music
Previous Recipients
| Year | Where | Amount | Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Kingston-upon-Thames, All Saints | £5,000 | To support a primary school singing programme |
| 2024 | Chesterfield, St Mary and All Saints | £700 | To support a programme to increase the number of choir members |
| 2024 | Ipswich, St Mary le Tower | £5,000 | To support the church’s youth choirs project |
| 2024 | Crediton Parish Church | £7,000 | To support a project to re-establish choral scholarships and improve the training of junior members of the choir |
| 2024 | Manchester, St Ann | £5,500 | To support a project to recruit post-graduate singing students to provide vocal coaching for associate choir members |
| 2024 | York, St Lawrence | £3,300 | To support the development of the choir and the introduction of mid-week services |
| 2024 | Withington, St Paul | £3,500 | To support a Saturday morning choir club |
| 2023 | St Mary’s Cathedral, Aberdeen | £3,600 | To support the recruitment of choral scholars |
| 2023 | Coventry, Holy Trinity | £4,000 | To support the appointment of two choral scholars |
| 2023 | Farnham, St Thomas on the Bourne | £5,000 | To support the costs of producing a recruitment video, funding a vocal coach and contributing to the tour fund |
| 2023 | Huddersfield, St Patrick | £6,000 | To support the provision of singing lessons for choir members, and to contribute towards tour expenses |
| 2023 | Leamington Spa, All Saints | £2,500 | To fund the appointment of two additional choral scholars, to increase pay of all scholars, and to support the purchase of new robes, folders and music |
| 2023 | Solihull, St Alphege | £6,000 | To support a choral outreach project in local schools |
| 2023 | Southwark, St George’s Cathedral | £2,900 | To support a new children’s church choir for those in Year One and Year Two |
| 2022 | Chingford, St Peter and St Paul | £2,500 | To establish a chorister bursary scheme for its summer residential singing course |
| 2022 | Hull Minster | £7,000 | Increase bursary provision for young choristers and increase the offer of choral scholarships for university age students |
| 2022 | Ipswich, St Mary le Tower | £7,000 | Partnering with state schools in Ipswich to deliver choral singing activities |
| 2022 | Newark, St Mary Madalene | £5,000 | Widening access to singing lessons |
| 2022 | Nottingham, St Mary’s in the Lace Market | £6,000 | To establish three children’s choirs and work with local schools |
| 2022 | West Malling, St Mary | £2,500 | To increase support for its choral and organ scholarship programme |