CHURCH ORGAN BAN FOR GRAN
‘Disbelief’ as halt called after 20 years due to ‘health and safety’
AGRANDMOTHER of seven who had been a church organist for 20 years has been told she can no longer play due to health and safety concerns.
Former nurse Elizabeth Hughes, from Holyhead, was devastated to be told last October by church elders that she would no longer be able to claim expenses as an organist at St Cybi’s Church.
And then despite an impassioned plea to the Bishop of Bangor, she was told that there wasn’t insurance to cover for her to just pop in now and again to practise.
The church says it has tried to deal with the “complex situation carefully and prayerfully”.
Mrs Hughes, who has three daughters, said: “As a pensioner the little money I made was very useful to me as I live by myself.
“I would get paid £40 for a special service such as a wedding, and around £10 for a normal Sunday service.
“But what really upset me when I stopped playing was that I didn’t hear a thing from the church, I didn’t even get a thank you card for all my efforts over the last 20 years.”
In what she describes as “desperation” Mrs Hughes, who is in her 70s, wrote an emotional letter to the Bishop of Bangor, describing how bereft she was after losing her role as church organist.
“I described in the letter the human cost to the way I was treated,” said Mrs Hughes. “Playing at St Cybi’s was a big part of my life, and to have it taken away from me was devastating.”
But according to Mrs Hughes, the Bishop never replied to her letter.
She is concerned her skills as an organist will wane as she can no longer practise them, contacted St Cybi’s to see if she could sometimes play the organ in order to “keep her hand in”.
“But I was told to my huge disappointment and disbelief that they don’t have the insurance to cover me, so I can’t play because of health and safety.
A spokesman for the Diocese of Bangor said: “The Diocese and local church in Bro Cybi have dealt with a complex situation carefully and prayerfully.”