A SPARSHOLT man will be taking a very hands-on approach to fundraising for the village church.

Richard Morse, 48, will sit down at the organ of St Stephen's Church on the afternoon of next Friday, June 22, and will stay there until he has played all 560 hymns in the hymn book - some 2,300 verses.

He estimates the challenge will take around 27 hours, meaning he will finish on the evening of June 23, following the village's fete.

The hymnathon' is hoping to drum up around £5,000 towards the £70,000 needed for work on the church, which includes redecoration and treatment of a beetle infestation in the roof.

The project will also include refurbishing the organ and moving it back to its original position in the chancel.

Mr Morse, who has lived in Sparsholt with his wife, Chris, and three children for 10 years, said it made sense to use the organ to raise funds as it was a major part of the restoration project.

"It's a lot of money to raise and I thought by doing something like this I could raise outside sponsorship and relieve the parishioners from the burden of raising all the money.

"The hardest thing might be sitting on the hard organ bench for 27 hours.

"A lot of people have offered to come along and sing to keep me going through the night," he said.

Mr Morse, who is the church's relief organist and also plays at various locations around Winchester, said the marathon would be well worth it to see the refurbished organ.

He added: "I'm really looking forward to it. I enjoy playing the organ very much and I think some of these hymns are tremendous."

Villagers launched their appeal at the beginning of June by opening gardens in Sparsholt, raising more than £1,700 in the process.

Anyone who would like to sponsor Mr Morse can visit www.justgiving.com/hymnathon