STAFF and volunteers at Chester Cathedral have been given a helping hand by a team of enthusiastic Cathedral Campers.
During their stay, Chester MP Stephen Mosley visited the Cathedral to thank the campers for their hard work, presenting a certificate to each of them.
Cathedral Camps, which are run by UK volunteering charity CSV, see young people getting involved in all aspects of Cathedral life from clearing overgrown shrubs in the dark corners of the grounds to painstakingly cleaning marble statues with cotton buds.
The campers, all aged between 16 and 25, stayed in Chester for the duration of the camp.
Rebecca Wilkinson, CSV’s project manager for Cathedral Camps, said: “Every year our army of young volunteers demonstrate a positive impact to protect our faith buildings. Their spirit and passion plays an important part to preserve our architecture from disrepair.”
“The Cathedral Campers have been assisting the maintenance team throughout their stay,” said Martin Witty from the Cathedral Estate department.
“They have carried out a number of tasksŠinside the Cathedral, in the grounds and on the wider estate.
“Splitting into small work groups, they have removed cobwebs from the Cloisters and Chapter House, wiped down all the chairs inside the Cathedral, polishedŠcandlesticks and altar furniture from a number of chapels and dusted the various memorial stones throughout.
“Externally, they have swept the entire roof area of the Cathedral and transported all the leaves and other windblown detritus which accumulates on the roofs down to ground level.”
