PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL has surpassed its “cathedral crisis” fund-raising goal of £300,000, announced in January.
The Dean and Chapter set the goal to satisfy financial challenges that, they warned, imperilled the cathedral’s immediate future as a seven-day-a-week operation, despite a record-breaking 12 months of events (News, 17 January).
The money got here from one thousand individual donations from people from all walks of life, including one anonymous donation described as “very large and generous”, which has taken the appeal beyond its goal.
The Dean, the Very Revd Christopher Dalliston, said that groups and institutions also contributed, each from throughout the city and beyond, and that this had “reaffirmed the cathedral’s role as a cherished landmark and community hub”.
The cathedral, one of the vital significant medieval abbeys, is without reserves, and has faced many such challenges up to now, most notably a cash-flow crisis in 2016 (News, 29 July 2016), which opened up the broad debate on the management and governance of cathedrals that eventually led to the Cathedrals Measure in 2021.
Escalating costs prompted the crisis in January. The Dean warned on the time that there was a Iimit to how often the cathedral could make such an appeal to the community, and that the underlying challenge was to construct a “properly funded, sustained, and ongoing future. . . We don’t wish to should return to this case, going forwards.”
The Vice-Dean, Canon Tim Alban-Smith, told the Church Times on Monday that he was thrilled with the response. Donors included some individuals who had been choristers on the cathedral, and others who had moved away and still retained a terrific affection for a constructing that he described as “amazing”.
But this was only the place to begin, he said. “We haven’t got to fret about whether we’re going to find a way to pay the gas bill by the top of this month or the top of next month — it buys us a little bit of time to attempt to to make ourselves as sustainable as possible. Cathedrals are expensive buildings to maintain going.
“We’ve made many recent friends and supporters, and we’ve reconnected with old friends. What we hope to do, in consequence of this, is construct profitable partnerships with businesses and individuals in the town, and maybe within the diocese as well, in order that as many individuals as possible will feel a way of connection and belonging with this glorious place.”
Fifteen thousand people had queued to see the “Longest Yarn” exhibition — knitted and crocheted scenes of the D-Day landings — which had just finished, leading him to look at, “We have wonderful choirs, and we do all of the statutory services. Numerous people in Peterborough are never going to come back to choral evensong, but they could come to certainly one of our exhibitions or certainly one of our live shows.
“It’s not quite business as usual. We’re not out of the woods yet. We’ve still got work to do. But it signifies that we will proceed with all of the things which are necessary: our schools work, our mission and ministry. The appeal has generated loads of publicity locally, and it’s been wonderful to see the love that individuals have for the cathedral.”
