Lighting up the cathedral

Weekend of Cathedral events raises £65,000

With essential work beginning to completely rewire and relight the whole of Ripon Cathedral, one weekend of events last month made a significant dent in the £700,000 target.  The sixth annual Angel Dinner was held in the Nave of Ripon Cathedral and raised £25,000.  Three hundred and thirty guests were welcomed to a sparkling reception.  A four course gourmet dinner was served to guests in the spectacular candle-lit Nave of the Cathedral.  The Angel Voices of the Girl’s Choir provided Musical entertainment for the guests and the Lay Clerks sang popular songs during dinner.  The after dinner speakers were, Peter Day from the BBC Radio 4 business programme and amusing anecdotes from John Eaton of Lupton Fawcett Solicitors.

But the following day even that figure was topped  by the Dean’s Gift Day for members of the Cathedral congregation which raised a staggering £40,000.   The Dean, the Very Revd Keith Jukes said he was overwhelmed by the response. “Money is still being pledged as we speak and I am confident that the total will go even higher.  This generosity together with the huge success of the Angel Dinner is a major inroad towards the shortfall of funds for the Vision Project”.  The Dean also added that the Cathedral had also received a grant from the Garfield Weston Foundation of £25,000.  He continues “Perhaps the most humbling moment of the Gift Day was a little boy who brought in his weekly pocket money and members of the Children’s Church who had raised almost £200 from the sale of a cookery book”.

Work has commenced on the Vision project and will take six months to fully rewire and relight the whole Cathedral at a total cost f around £700,000.  Two thirds of the total has come from the Heritage Lottery Fund, but to reach the total there will be a three year programme of Heritage events and activities including  workshops on heraldry, calligraphy, geology and history, events such as the popular Medieval Fayre and educational tours for both children and adults alike.