• yesterday
Transcript
00:00So, what's the problem? Well, despite what we've done, what we've achieved, despite the extraordinary commitment of our relatively small team of staff, our many brilliant volunteers, all of whom go the extra mile, even though we've been disciplined and outstanding, very tight in the way that we manage our finances, although we've had to make cuts and make some difficult decisions,
00:28the hard truth is we're still not able to make ends meet on our own resources. Our income has to have grown, but putting it along with surveying a versatile part of that realistic burden, those challenges for everyone else too,
00:44have faced really difficult financial headwinds. Covid, the cost of living crisis, rising fuel bills, increasing employment costs, all this has meant that our accounts have risen faster than our income.
01:00We have this huge fixed asset and green spaces around it, which are not things we can easily replenish or redevelop. We're not alone in these challenges either. It's not just Peter and I. We're not the only team facing such difficulties.
01:22And in the many other parts of the nation's cultural and heritage sector, we lack central support or government funding elsewhere. But for us here in Peterborough, the situation is particularly acute. Our reserves are few and we've got virtually nothing to draw on to help us run through this particular storm.
01:45We're striving to serve the city better, to serve our diocese better, to support our mission, to be continuing to be open for everyone to be free. And we've just repurposed some of our spaces over there in the precinct as a conference facility. We're not trying stuff.
02:04But we must urgently address this current situation. If no one would want to help us, we risk creating our doors. We risk the loss of some of the most critically important programs that benefit so many people in that city.
02:25I've interviewed you. I've sat with you. How awesome is this place? And what would Peterborough be without it? For 900 years, it's been a place of prayer, hospitality, learning and service, a sanctuary, a symbol of the city.
02:46But now, more than ever, we need your continuing support and the support of all of us that this cathedral has a place in our hearts if we are to survive in the way that we have been and to continue to serve you in the way that you would want.