St Michael & All Angels: Organ and Parish Rooms Appeal
Sponsored Hymnathon
February 24th & 25th 2012
Back to Organ and Parish Rooms Appeal page
Congratulations to Oliver West & Jonathan Dods and St Michael & All Angels Choir
(and thanks to everyone else who joined in) on a magnificent and very moving achievement. We completed the entire New English Hymnal in 30 and a half hours and then sang the two hymns that raised most money from sponsors. In a flurry of last-minute donations, O Praise Ye The Lord and Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer tied for the No 1 spot. This is the final Hymnathon Top Ten.
Watch St Michael & All Angels' Hymnathon - The Film by Alan Paul and Kelvin Murray.
You can add your congratulations and make a donation on the Hymnathon JustGiving page which will stay open for a while longer. Or simply fill in one of the Gift Aid envelopes in the church - where you could also have bought a souvenir mug (below right). One month on, we have received over £39,500: when Gift Aid is added, it brings the total to over £51,000 - with more money still coming in.
Thank you to all our individual sponsors: See more than 675 names listed so far.
Thank you too to the Hymnathon singers: See 200 listed so far (out of more than 330)
Thank you too to all our business supporters.
See a slideshow of
Hymnathon 2012 by Andrea Liu.
See a slideshow of Hymnathon 2012 by David Beresford.
See a slideshow of Hymnathon 2012 by James Cox here.
Read Richard Broke's blog
Read Scott Gronmark's blog
Read reports by Sarah Lenton and Christabel Ames-Lewis in the Parish Magazines
The first Hymnathon - 25 years ago
We still have much more money to raise for our new Organ and Parish Rooms Appeal - and we'll be starting a longterm 'Pay for a Pipe or Buy a Brick' scheme very shortly. There'll also be other fundraising events, including a gala performance of Gilbert & Sullivan's Trial by Jury on Saturday April 28th.
But for the moment, let's celebrate a wonderful achievement.
St Michael & All Angels: Organ and Parish Rooms Appeal
Sponsored Hymnathon
This section will be updated in due course, now that the Hymnathon has been completed.
Starting on Friday February 24th at 12 noon - and lasting 30 and a half hours - the New English Hymnal was sung, complete and without a break, to raise money for our Organ and Parish Rooms Appeal. We had 48 people in the church at 1am and served breakfast to 60 on Saturday morning and there were refreshments throughout the day, including afternoon tea following Jerusalem and God Save the Queen, which are due to be sung shortly after 3pm.
Please donate by sponsoring your favourite hymn in church or online (details below). You can also buy souvenir mugs - £7 each, or four for £25, in aid of the Appeal.
See the first pictures in our Hymnathon Gallery.
Thank you to all our sponsors - you can see the first 550 names here
Which hymns have raised the most money? See the Hymnathon Top Ten
- and also our YouTube Hymnathon channel, where you can hear our top ten hymns sung by some wonderful choirs - before we upload our own videos.
Follow us on Twitter @StMichaelsW4 #Hymnathon
Father Kevin Morris was interviewed on UCB Radio this morning - hear it here later.
Divine contest: Who named the most hymns with the word 'divine' in?
John Betjeman on hymns and St Michael & All Angels
See the 542 hymns, hour by hour - Sponsor your favourites and choose when to come
Be an Angel – Sponsor a Hymn!
Thanks to the 325 people who've already donated a total of £23,000, including Gift Aid!! Your names are in the programme at the church door. If you haven’t yet done so, please sponsor your favourite hymn(s) now, using the Gift Aid envelopes or the forms in church (which you can also download below) or JustGiving.
The easiest way is via the Hymnathon’s JustGiving page, where you can see lots of wonderful messages. If you name your hymn, the sum will be added to its total (even if you don't want to publish how much you're donating). The hymn that raises the largest sum will be sung as the grand finale on Saturday. See the latest Hymnathon Top Ten.
The names of all sponsors and donors are listed here.
Thank you too to all our business supporters. If you'd like to find out how to get involved in other St Michaels' events, such as the Bedford Park Festival and the Chiswick Book Festival, or future fundraising for the new Organ & Parish Rooms Appeal, please email torindouglas@aol.com.
Be an Angel – Come and Sing!
Thanks to those who have signed up to sing alongside St Michael's own choirs, groups and congregation. They include Chiswick Choir, Hogarth Singers, Petros Singers, West London Bach Singers, Arts Educational Schools London, Orchard House School and Chiswick & Bedford Park Preparatory School. Please ask your friends, to join in and/or sponsor you, using the Participants' Sponsorship Form. Look at the back of the church, or here, to see when your favourite hymns are being sung. If you would like your choir to take part, or want to know more, contact Oliver West on 020 8994 8614 or at oliver@oliverandliswest.co.uk.
Organists will play throughout the Hymnathon and at certain points during the 30 hours - times to be announced - we will encourage musicians to take part. Do join us!
Be an Angel – Bake a Cake!
There are lots of other ways to help the Hymnathon: bake a cake (or scones) for the tea on Saturday afternoon; help with the breakfast on Saturday morning; count the money, find more sponsors…. To help with catering, please contact Jane Trigle: jane.lenton@virgin.net. And we hope you'll come to Saturday’s breakfast and/or afternoon tea. If so, please sign the notice in church so we can assess numbers.
How to donate
Donations are welcome in advance or at the door, where the programme will be available. You can donate by:
- cheque made payable to St Michael & All Angels (with Gift Aid if possible - see
form)
- credit/debit card online at www.justgiving.com/smaaahymnathon (online donations are subject to fee and card transaction charge)
-
text: ANGE15 £10 to 70070 (Maximum donation per text of £10. To donate smaller amounts just change the £10 to £2, £3, £4, or £5.)
Sponsorship and donation forms should be returned to: Hymnathon, St Michael & All Angels Parish Office, Priory Avenue, London W4 1TX by Friday 24th February 2012 at the latest, or by Friday 17th February if you would like your name and sponsored hymns listed in the Hymnathon programme.
Who has sponsored each hymn? Watch here for updates.
The John Betjeman Hymnbook Watch here for updates.
The first Hymnathon - 25 years ago Watch here for updates.
Follow us on Twitter @StMichaelsW4 #Hymnathon
The Hymnathon singers Watch here for updates.
Hymnathon: The Response Watch here for updates
The Hymnathon home page - 25.2.12
Download The Hymnathon leaflet with full sponsorship details: copies can also be found in the church.
The Hymnathon - 25 Years On
Exactly 25 years ago, on February 13th and 14th 1987,
St Michael & All Angels made history by singing the complete New English Hymnal from start to finish. There were pictures on the front page of the Independent and inside The Times (right), which you can now see in St Michael & All Angels church. Very few have done it since!
The first Hymnathon - 25 years ago
More events and ways to volunteer and donate to the Organ and Parish Rooms Appeal will be announced in due course.