AN award-winning young musician has cut a CD to help save a church.

Pianist Sam Armstrong, 19, who reached the semi-final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition this year, plays works by composers including Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Prokofiev on the CD, which he has made to help St Mary's Catholic Church at Wycliffe, near Richmond, North Yorkshire.

Margaret Williamson, a member of the congregation who has raised funds towards the £60,000 restoration by holding classical concerts at her home in the village, knows Sam - a student at the Royal Northern College of Music - and asked him to help.

His achievements also include reaching the regional final of the BBC competition in 1996 and winning a gold award at the Festival of Festivals.

Earlier this year, part of the roof of the 150-year-old church fell in, leaving the building unsafe.

As a result, mass is having to be said in the former schoolroom adjoining the church, said Mrs Williamson.

Two events are planned to boost the appeal.

On September 30, a concert production of the Marriage of Figaro is being given by Opera Nova, at the Church of St Joseph and St Francis Xavier, Richmond. The Carol Andrews Singers will also be performing, at Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, on October 7.