A SUPPER CLUB in St German’s Cathedral, on the Isle of Man, and a seamstress at Sheffield Cathedral, have been recognised in the Newgate Cathedral Volunteer of the Year Awards, announced on Sunday.
Volunteers at the Big Table Café in St German’s prepare and serve a freshly cooked three-course meal every Monday, for which customers pay what they can afford in a sealed envelope.
Volunteers and guests at the Big Table Café 2023 Christmas lunch in St German’s Cathedral
The Dean, the Very Revd Nigel Godfrey, said that the Big Table’s motto — “Eat what you like and pay what you can” — was “indicative of the spirit in which the volunteers commit to this project. All are welcome, with donations received by sealed envelope. Sometimes empty, sometimes a £20 note.”
The project has been going for several years. “Its delivery service was a lifeline in Covid,” he said. “The volunteers give the impression that nothing is too much trouble, and it is the highlight of some customers’ week.”
Their efforts have won them the accolade of Volunteer Team of the Year at the first national cathedral volunteer awards organised by the Association of English Cathedrals in partnership with Newgate Motoring Solutions Ltd, which specialises in affordable motoring schemes for clergy and those who work or volunteer in cathedrals.
The single Volunteer of the Year award was won by Christine Barker, who is a welcomer, guide, and seamstress at Sheffield Cathedral. “She represents our values of compassion and openness with grace and warmth,” Ben Rossi, the development manager at the cathedral, said.
Her “rich” knowledge and passion for the cathedral’s history was “infectious”, he said, and her skills in needlework “meticulous” — she has restored vestments, altar cloths, liturgical garments, and military treasures, and is this year creating a complete set of children’s vestments, pilgrims’ capes, and nativity clothes.
Runners-up for Team of the Year were the Restoration Team at Coventry Cathedral, whose work to restore the original chairs from 1962 has saved £333,000 in replacement costs
Ms Barker, who has been volunteering at the cathedral for six years, is also working to restore the altar frontal from the Shrewsbury Chapel, which features 95-year-old emblems.
Runners-up for Team of the Year were the Restoration Team at Coventry Cathedral, whose work to restore the original chairs from 1962 has saved £333,000 in replacement costs (new like-for-like chairs are £555 each). More than 600 chairs — one third of the cathedral’s entire collection — have been restored during the past 18 months, led by the cathedral’s property services manager, Andy Shelley.
Sue Hall, the cathedral archivist at Blackburn Cathedral, gives an education talk. She was named runner-up for Volunteer of the Year
The volunteer manager at the cathedral, Jackie Skipp, said that she was proud of the dedicated team, who were “super-skilled and fastidious in their attention to detail”.
Runner-up for Volunteer of the Year was Sue Hall, the cathedral archivist at Blackburn Cathedral, who is also a welcomer, education volunteer, and event steward, who conducts tours and group visits. She has been volunteering there for three years.
The Dean of Blackburn, the Very Revd Peter Howell-Jones, said: “We have some amazing volunteers at Blackburn Cathedral, and I know Sue would be the first to say that this award is for all of them. Sue has done some phenomenal work here in the archive and in education, and she exemplifies the true value of volunteering in one of our 42 cathedrals.”
The awards received about 50 nominations from almost 30 cathedrals.
The Dean of St Albans, the Very Revd Jo Kelly-Moore, who chairs the Association of English Cathedrals, said: “Every day of the year, thousands of volunteers are part of the heartbeat of the ministry and service of every English cathedral. . . In this National Volunteers’ Week we say a huge thank you to them all. What you do makes a real difference, and we are very, very grateful.”
