Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral has been awarded £275,000 to help fund essential repairs.
The grant has come from the World War One Centenary Cathedral Repairs Fund, which itself is funded by the Church of England and the Catholic Church in England.
The grant will be spent on repairing the roofs in both the Lady Chapel and Nave sections of the cathedral which have both suffered substantial damage from storms over the past few years.
Director of Communications for Liverpool Cathedral, Stuart Haynes, told JMU Journalism: “We are absolutely delighted to have received this money which will pay for essential repair work to our roofs and maintain this phenomenal building.
“Our cathedral is a magnificent building but that comes with a massive price tag and we don’t have any regular state funding so we need to find ways to make sure we protect this fantastic place for future generations.”
There have been a number of leaks as a result of the damaged roof which is affecting the interior of the Grade 1 listed building. Work is due to start in January 2015 with the grant needing to be spent within the next 12 months.
Hayes said there will be no noticeable difference in the appearance of the cathedral but said the work is essential for the future of the building.
Earlier this year the cathedral launched an ambitious ‘24 for 2024’ campaign which hopes to raise £24 million over the next decade to go towards the upkeep and repairs of the cathedral to ensure its integrity for future generations.
The cathedral receives no government funding. It relies on donations and cathedral-run outreach projects such as ’24 for 2024′. Haynes added: “We have to be creative in how we raise money, some cathedrals have started to charge entry but we really don’t want to do that.”
When asked if the £24m target is realistic he said: “It’s not going to be easy. It is a challenging target, we rely on applying for grants like this from the WW1 Centenary Fund and we have to focus on fundraising.”
Additional reporting by Lydia Morris