Portsmouth Cathedral Appeal Update

On Saturday 9th June 2007 we were again blessed with beautiful weather for our Summer Fete. The Cathedral Green was fit to burst with a vast array of visitors who leisurely wandered around the quintessential stalls, enjoying the atmosphere and sense of community spirit. The Fete raised just over £2,000 and we extend our very grateful thanks to all who organised the event and to everyone who came and supported it.

We continue to work hard towards achieving our target of £2 Million and we remain humbled by the magnificent support that we are receiving from so many different people and organisations. May we remind you of the three key objectives of our relatively modest capital appeal?

• To bring up to date the facilities at Cathedral House, our community building alongside the Cathedral, so as to develop and extend music and education in our community

• To create first class visitor and heritage facilities for members of the congregation, tourists and audiences at concerts and arts events

• To conserve and restore the fabric of the medieval church

Progress in Cathedral House (our community building) has been rapid and we have greatly enjoyed seeing the many contractors work so hard to transform this splendidly utilitarian building into a centre for our community that we can be so very proud of. The contractors are now busy clearing the site and addressing any snagging issues before we can re-open the doors; we hope that the building will be ready for use by the end of June. Plans to rededicate the building at a major service in the Cathedral later in the year are being addressed.

Progress with our new heritage and visitor centre is now well in train with support for the development having been received from the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England (CFCE). The Cathedral architect is now finalising the design which we hope to be able to deliver very soon: we plan to start work in the north cloister itself in the middle of the year, to follow on from the work in Cathedral House.

Separately, restoration work to the medieval church has continued with repairs to the Chapel of Healing and Reconciliation now complete. This included the repair to the interior medieval walls damaged by the salt laden air which penetrated our three foot thick masonry. The delivery of the Cathedral’s first Conservation Plan will also greatly help inform the way ahead for the care of the entire building and restore this beautiful part of the medieval church to its former glory so that it can once again be seen as it should be.

In this final haul towards meeting our target we ask only that your support continues in the so very generous manner that we have enjoyed until now. At the time of writing the total funds committed or pledged for the appeal has surpassed, £1,497,067 and for that wonderful effort we are immensely grateful for the support of many generous individuals and many very helpful charitable trusts and foundations whose contributions have made our total possible. Within the Cathedral itself, our congregational Fundraising Events Group has contributed, since the appeal launch, a magnificent £85,719:43.

We have been thrilled by the support of two young entrepreneurs from Portsmouth Grammar School; Samantha Gingell and Jenna Atkinson have set up, as part of a school project, a small company to deliver lapel pins for the benefit of the Cathedral appeal: there is already a link from the Cathedral website to the girls’ website but just in case you have missed it here it is again; please have a look and do order your appeal lapel pins:

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/pinuppompey

We are immensely grateful to these two young ladies and all that have supported them; they are clearly destined for great things in the world of finance and business; I am sure we shall see them one day in the Dragon’s Den or even as some of Alan Sugar’s Apprentices.

There is now another opportunity to support our appeal by the use of the new Internet search engine called Everyclick. The Portsmouth Cathedral Development Trust is now listed on everyclick.com, a search engine that gives 50% of its revenue to charity. Using everyclick.com as your search engine does not cost you or us any money, but every time you use it you raise money for the Portsmouth Cathedral Development Trust. Please start raising money for us whenever you search the web. Just go to:

http://www.everyclick.com/uk/portsmouth-cathedral-development-trust/136320/0

You can then click on the links in the top right hand corner to either set it as your home page or add it to your favourites.

In summary, we continue to make real progress and we hope that this update will help demonstrate our appreciation of past support. With our £2M target now firmly in sight we do hope that you have found this update useful and that you might now consider making a contribution towards our appeal. I do hope you will feel able to support us: the appeal team can provide any further information you might need to achieve this. One thing that you can do is to consider making a bequest to the Portsmouth Cathedral Development Trust as you prepare or update your will and we have attached some guidance for this on the website; however, do ask if we can provide any more detailed advice or information. Separately if you have shares that you would like to donate in support of the PCDT and its appeal then this can also be achieved easily and the Appeal Team can also provide advice and guidance on how this can be done.

Finally, the ‘Pledge & Gift Aid Form’ and the separate Standing Order Mandate remain available online and in the appeal office and we shall soon provide guidance on how you can help the Cathedral with a bequest. We can be contacted at the following addresses:

The Appeal Team, Tom Morton & Tracey Harper, Portsmouth Cathedral Development Trust, St Thomas's Street, Old Portsmouth, Hampshire PO1 2HH.