THE committee of a historic Stratton St Margaret church is well on the way to fixing its roof.

Most of the roof of St Margaret’s Church is in dire need of restoration, so the committee in charge of maintaining the building has been collecting for a fund to pay for the work.

The stone slating to the roofs of the porch, chancel and south slope of the south aisle roofs are in poor condition

The repairs will cost a whopping £290,000 but generous donations and a Heritage Lottery Fund grant have contributed significantly to the fund.

The next fundraiser will be a concert on Saturday by the Swindon Male Voice Choir, who will be performing spiritual hymns and showstopping hits, plus a new choir arrangement of Psalm 23 rehearsed specially for this event.

Gordie Smith, the choir’s concert secretary, said: “It's a very big project for such a little church.

"We’ve sang at the church many times, though our last concert there was 10 years ago.

“Some of our newer members have never sung in a concert there before, so they’re quite excited and it’ll be very nice for the rest of us to return there.

“I live just down the road, so it’s a very local gig.

“Every September is the start of our ‘choir year’, where we return and relaunch, full of energy and new songs after our August break.

“Our rehearsals are well underway and this will be our first formal concert of the 2018-19 season.

“We will be doing a large part of the programme with good mixture of music in a beautiful and intimate venue.

“The church are providing guest slots for us with their organ player Jeff Walton and some of their young singers.

“We’ve got a lot of concerts and events leading up to our 100th anniversary year in 2019.

“It’s a busy hobby but we enjoy our music and sharing it with other people, which is what it’s all about.

“Our music director works us hard and he has high standards but it’s good fun.

“Around 34 of us will be at the church on Saturday, all geared up and ready to go.”

Tickets cost £6 each and the concert begins at 7.30pm.

Book tickets from the church office, or call 01793 826505. There may be some available at the door.