Press Releases February 2004ST ALBANS CATHEDRAL CAMPAIGN supported by Laing Family Trusts
There
were celebrations at Evensong in St. Albans Cathedral on Sunday
15th February when the generosity of the Laing Family Trusts to the
Cathedral's £6.4million campaign was marked with the presentation
of
The Laing Chorister Medal to Emily Knight of the Abbey Girls Choir. A photograph taken after the service is on the left. There was another important ceremony that evening too when eight year old Beth Eyre was installed as a new chorister. She now joins over 40 choristers, both boys and girls aged between 7 and 14 in two choirs - The Cathedral Choir and The Abbey Girls Choir. There is no residential choir school in St Albans so the boys or girls assemble each weekday morning in term time to rehearse for an hour before going on to their local schools and then return after school for more rehearsal and to sing Evensong. On Friday evenings they have a full two hour practice with the twelve Lay Clerks, the men of the Cathedral Choir, before they sing Evensong on Saturdays and two, sometimes three services on a Sunday. It is through such commitment, combined with the inspired and dedicated leadership of the music staff that the choirs of St Albans enjoy an international reputation and regularly make broadcasts and recordings. This is musical excellence. But to sustain, develop and share its outstanding musical life across the Diocese, the Cathedral must raise £3.1 million of which £2.7 million alone is needed to build an endowment fund for the two choirs. At the same time, the Cathedral is also raising £2.2 million to conserve and restore its ancient fabric, including the re-ordering of its great Norman Tower, built in 1077 with 600 year old bricks from Roman Verulamium - on a clear day it can be seen from as far away as the London Eye! The Cathedral's Education Centre is a four times winner of the Sandford Award for excellence in heritage education. It exists to offer the Cathedral as a multi-faith education resource right across the curriculum and, led by experienced teachers, devises workshops and trails to tie in with National Curriculum demands The Sandford Award citation states: "A visit to St Albans Abbey is a stimulating experience for any visitor. For a young guest immersed in the imaginative activities provided by the education unit, it goes beyond stimulation. This is real education". £1.1 million is needed for accommodation, to develop new initiatives in key areas of education and and to secure the future of its staffing. Donations from individuals, corporate donors and charitable trusts, such as those received from the Laing Family Trusts, have helped enormously with every element of the Campaign which now stands at £ 2.5 million - but there is still a very long way to go. If you would like to know more about what the Cathedral is trying to achieve or help in any way, please telephone the Campaign Office on 01727 890231 or write to The St Albans Cathedral Campaign, Sumpter Yard, St Albans AL1 1BY or visit the website: http://www.stalbanscathedralcampaign.org.uk. RECORD COLLECTION FOR CHRISTIAN AID AT ST ALBANS ABBEY CAROL FESTIVAL For many years the Abbey has given the collections, after deduction of costs, at these services to Christian Aid.. A major factor in the increase this year is the Gift Aid Scheme which allows Charities to claim from the Inland Revenue an extra 28p for every £1 given by people from their taxed income. As Acting Dean, Canon Stephen Lake explained, "We always encourage our congregations at these two services to be as generous as they can in supporting Christian Aid. This year, however, we made a request that they use the special Gift Aid Envelopes which we had provided, and it worked. A large percentage of the money was given in this way." He added, "We are enormously grateful to all those who came to these services and enabled us to give such a large donation to this most worthwhile cause." The two Festival of Lessons and Carol Services are so popular that admission has to be by ticket. The tickets are free and allocated by public ballot. 30,900 people attended services and events in the Abbey during December 2003 and 4,755 people attended worship there on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Notes for Editors 1. Christian Aid Since it was established in 1945, more and more people across the world have benefited from the work of Christian Aid. It has now expanded to become one of the largest church-related international relief and development agencies in Europe reaching the poor and marginalized in over 60 countries world wide. (Tel: 020 7620 4444, email: info@christian-aid.org.uk web: www.christianaid.org.uk ) 2. For further details please contact Nicholas Bates, Cathedral |
