The Chairman of the British Institute of Organ Studies writes:
The National Pipe Organ Register
Appeal for donations
You may be surprised to learn that the NPOR’s extensive coverage of British organs, a free public resource set up and managed by BIOS, is unmatched by any other country worldwide. Dr Mike Sayers set up the database in 1990 and has served it with devotion and technical virtuosity ever since.* A team of volunteer editors continues to extend and refine the Register with the ultimate ambition of cataloguing every organ in the land.
However, it is becoming a major financial challenge to manage the constant incoming flow of information (a task efficiently performed by the Royal College of Organists on behalf of BIOS) and to maintain the database. Outside grants, that in the early days helped in getting the NPOR set up and established, are no longer available for the continuing expense of day-to-day running, and after Mike Sayers’s imminent retirement the website will no longer continue to be hosted and maintained free of charge. BIOS is responsible for all of these annual costs, which are estimated at £8,500 for 2015 and will absorb more than one third of our annual income.
The Register now lists the specifications of over 35,000 organs and each month receives an average of more than 20,000 file searches which bring up a total of over 40,000 surveys. BIOS is committed to maintaining free access to the NPOR for all users, but its funds are limited and we have to face the fact that these unavoidable costs cannot be sustained beyond the short term. That is why I am writing to ask whether you or your Association would consider signing up to contribute on a regular basis to a new Fund which BIOS has set up to provide finance for the NPOR. We believe this cause deserves the wholehearted support of all who are involved in the British organ world, especially those who use the Register on a regular basis and who are directly involved in the world of the pipe organ whether as builders, performers or listeners. Single donations will of course be welcome at any time but our greatest need, for the sake of future security, is to find supporters who are willing to take out a Standing Order and donate to the NPOR on a regular basis. May I invite you to sign up for a regular contribution?
Donations will be gratefully received at any level and should be sent to Adrian Mumford, BIOS Treasurer, using one of the two attached downloadable forms (Standing Order or Single Donation). The address is on the form. It is suggested that local associations might perhaps be able to sign up for £15 or £20 per annum. Individuals or associations able to offer larger sums will be enrolled annually in the following categories:
Friends (donation £50 or more)
Donors (£100 or more)
Benefactors (£250 or more)
Patrons £500 or more)
BIOS Council will be very pleased to acknowledge such donations by posting on the NPOR website a roll of these major supporters, unless they request otherwise. If you have any questions about the NPOR or about this appeal, you are welcome to get in touch with the BIOS Treasurer, Adrian Mumford, treasurer@bios.org.uk or the NPOR Manager, Andrew Macintosh, npor@bios.org.uk. I do hope you will feel able to help us keep NPOR alive and moving forward.
Alan Thurlow
Chairman
* Mike Sayers has written an interesting account of the history of the NPOR in BIOS Journal 36:
http://www.npor.org.uk/NPOR1992to2012.pdf
A standing order form is attached below:
