Funding Helps Lichfield Cathedral Serve the Community

Lichfield Cathedral is looking ahead with optimism thanks to a grant from the government’s Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage. The grant of £213,700 went towards the Cathedral’s financial recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and helped cover core operating costs from October to January.

The Very Rev’d Adrian Dorber said: “We are grateful for the support of the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage through another challenging winter. Following almost two years of worry, fear and uncertainty, the Cathedral is ready to serve our local community and help us all recover together.”

The Cathedral is now launching a new theme for 2022. ‘Your Cathedral’ aims to put the Cathedral firmly back into the hands of the community it serves. The theme will highlight the stories of people who are involved in the life of the Cathedral from regular volunteers and community groups to one-off visitors – every person has a story to tell.

Dorber continued: “The pandemic has impacted every person, family, and business in unique ways; one person’s experience can be wholly different to another’s, but each of us has been affected. During the lockdowns, we found that people would come to the Cathedral to seek a place of solace and safety. There has been a Cathedral on this site for over 1300 years and it has endured plagues and sieges in its time. It is the steadfastness of this ancient building and the God that it serves that can give people a sense of reassurance in troubling times.”

At the end of 2021 Lichfield Cathedral launched its ambitious ReSource project, aiming to raise £2 million and 50,000 volunteer hours to help the Cathedral serve its community for generations to come. Not only does this campaign see funding for building projects to ensure the stability of the bricks and mortar but also seeks to invest in community projects such as employment initiatives, holiday clubs, mental health resources and much more.