England’s cash-strapped cathedrals have issued a plea to architects, financiers, retail managers and other professionals to come to the rescue of some of the country’s most treasured buildings.
The country’s 42 Anglican cathedrals are visited by more than 10 million people each year and their congregations are growing, but about half are in dire financial difficulty faced with the cost of running and repairing their crumbling buildings.
The Bishop of Stepney, the Right Rev Adrian Newman, said this year that the Church of England needed to draw up contingency plans in case “individual cathedrals fail”.
The Association of English Cathedrals is now looking to recruit “competent and experienced” volunteers for a “cathedral projects support panel”, to advise cathedral bosses on renovations, expansions and business plans.