Arts, Dorset, Events & Entertainment | Posted on February 19th, 2026 | return to news

New national choir project for Salisbury Diocese

Young people will be encouraged to join church choirs as part of a new project in partnership with the Royal School of Church Music.

The Diocese of Salisbury, which includes most of Dorset apart from Bournemouth and Christchurch (which are served by the Diocese of Winchester), plus a few parishes in Hampshire, will be one of the first in the Church of England to partner with the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) to deliver a major new project.

Funded by a £400,000 award from the Church of England’s Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board, The Choir Project is a three-year programme that will allow the RSCM, which is based at Salisbury’s Sarum College, to provide direct support to churches that want to bring children back into their choirs or to start new ones. The funding will also support the development of new training and other resources.

The Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Rev Stephen Lake, said: “The diocese and the RSCM have long enjoyed a close and fruitful relationship. With several churches in the diocese already showing what can be done through music ministry to engage children and young people in the worshipping heart of the Church, we’re delighted to be working on this project, putting choirs at the heart of our mission with young people.

“It’s clear that when given positive exposure, opportunity and encouragement, young people are inspired and engaged by church music.”

The Diocese of Salisbury is among the first to partner with the RSCM in this programme, including through a network of Beacon Churches – parishes where music ministry among children and young people has already borne fruit – that will provide mentoring to others who want to develop their own plans.

In the first group of Beacon Churches is St Mary’s, Swanage, which started rebuilding a junior choir after the Covid pandemic, developing it alongside the church’s long-established adult choir. Now numbering 15 members, the choir meets to rehearse weekly, sings in two services each month and also has high visibility in Swanage through its participation in concerts and events.