A cathedral whose leaders warned it may have to go part-time amid escalating costs is celebrating reaching a £300,000 fundraising target to ensure it can remain open.
The Peterborough Cathedral Crisis Campaign was launched earlier this year as an “urgent fundraising appeal to secure its future”.
Church leaders said that without raising £300,000 by the end of March, the cathedral may no longer be able to keep its doors open seven days a week.
The Very Rev Christopher Dalliston, Dean of Peterborough Cathedral, said he was “hugely delighted” that the fundraising target had been reached.
But he cautioned that the cathedral continues to operate on “fine margins in a challenging financial environment”.
Speaking when the campaign was launched earlier this year, he said the cathedral “urgently” needed support to “keep its doors open and ensure it remains a place of inspiration and sanctuary for all”.
He said the cathedral has been “at the heart of Peterborough and the diocese for nearly 1,400 years”.
It was announced on Monday that the cathedral had exceeded its £300,000 fundraising target after more than 1,000 individual donors contributed.
A “significant anonymous donation” helped push the total beyond the goal, it was revealed.
The support means the cathedral can remain open and begin projects aimed at securing its long-term future.
The Dean said: “We’re hugely delighted – and relieved – to have achieved and exceeded our £300,000 target.
“We are also truly humbled by the depth and breadth of support from over 1,000 generous individual donors and other groups and institutions, within the city and beyond, who have helped us achieve this goal and ensure that the doors of our Cathedral will remain open to all.
“Every gift, however great or small, is so greatly appreciated.
“However, we are in no way complacent.
“This is only the first step in building a long-term sustainable future for the cathedral.
“We continue to operate on fine margins in a challenging financial environment, and over the coming year we shall need to continue to work hard to strengthen our network of supporters and develop additional sources of revenue to ensure we remain a vibrant community, serving our city, our diocese, and the wider region.”
To donate, see https://peterborough-cathedral.org.uk.
