£20 million Cathedral Repairs Fund to be made available
It was announced in the Chancellor’s Budget last week, Wednesday 16th March, that there will be a £20 million fund made available for works to cathedrals.
Following the announcement, the Very Revd Adrian Dorber, Dean of Lichfield and Chair of the Association of English Cathedrals said: “We are deeply grateful to the Government for the pledge of continuing funding for Cathedral repairs. Every Cathedral faces steep challenges in keeping this great collection of inspiring and historic buildings safely and properly; whereby we can continue to welcome nearly a quarter of the English population every year.
“Cathedrals play an important role as community hubs: they foster volunteering, music making, public debate and social action, alongside their primary task of worship and prayer. They seek to be constantly accessible to the public and offer a setting where some of the big questions in life can be asked, alongside a tradition of wisdom and hospitality that can minister to the diverse needs of all who come. We also play a role in economic regeneration and are increasingly recognised as important contributors to local and regional economies. What we spend on repairs helps us sustain craft skills and local employment.
“We congratulate the Chancellor on helping us steward and sustain a key national asset.”
In March 2015, Lichfield Cathedral was named as one of 31 cathedrals to receive a grant from the most recent government-sponsored scheme, the First World War Centenary Cathedral Repairs Fund. The fund was set up to support vital repairs to some of England’s most historic buildings, and Chancellor George Osborne announced grants of between £12,000 and £800,000 for essential repairs. Lichfield received £800,000, the largest of the grants, to go towards the lighting and rewiring project. The Cathedral was facing the possibility of closure without the essential work.
The next major fundraising project for the Cathedral is the Chapter House Appeal, which launched in February 2016. The Cathedral urgently needs to raise funds to reverse serious water penetration and stone erosion on the Chapter House. The structure is built from a number of different types of red sandstone. In recent years, the top layer of stone-work has begun to weaken, and the roof has also started to show signs of significant distress. Both factors now pose a substantial risk to the interior, in particular to the library collection housed on the upper floor.
Find out more about the Chapter House Appeal.