A 900-year-old cathedral has launched an urgent fundraising campaign after facing financial struggles in its first year as a registered charity.
Peterborough Cathedral in Cambridgeshire announced earlier this year that it needed to raise £300,000 by the end of March or face closing its doors on some weekdays.
Paul Stainton, head of marketing and communications at the charity, told Civil Society that the cathedral has not had its financial needs met for “many, many years” in terms of maintaining the fabrics of the building.
The cathedral, which currently opens seven days a week, needs to spend at least £700,000 each year on essential repairs and restoration, according to its quinquennial report.
All Anglican cathedrals became registered charities last year and are now co-regulated by the Charity Commission and Church Commissioners.
‘More and more difficult’ to raise funds
Stainton said: “The real danger is if we don't raise the money, and if we don't improve our incomes over the next year, two years, three years, then we will have to look at perhaps closing some days.
“We get very little income from the Church of England. I think 15% of our income comes from the Church of England through the Church Commissioners.
“So, we have to make the shortfall of ourselves. We have to be self-funding almost.
“And that's become more and more difficult in the last year and year and a half due to the rising cost of energy and also rising staff costs.”
The charity has less than 30 staff and over 300 volunteers, Stainton said, adding that without its volunteers the cathedral could not stay open.
Amount raised so far
Stainton said the charity has now raised over half of the targeted £300,000 with over 1,200 people donating.
He said: “We’re feeling hopeful. We never take anybody's donations for granted, and we thank everybody for their magnificent donations.
“We've had all sorts of donations from £5 in a little envelope to £1,000 from the Muslim community.
“The whole community of Peterborough has got behind the campaign, which is absolutely fantastic. Thank you very very much to all the people who've donated so far to the campaign.”
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