For more than a thousand years, Canterbury has been a focal point of worship, creativity and history. The Canterbury Gift aims to ensure that this iconic and important building continues to stand and serve for another thousand.
It costs nearly £15,000 a day to keep the Cathedral going, with nearly £9,000 being spent on daily running costs. Canterbury Cathedral receives no government or state funding and only occasional grants from English Heritage. The Church of England pays the salary of the Dean and two of the resident Canons but does not fund the Cathedral itself. Therefore, the Cathedral itself needs to earn the money necessary for its upkeep.
To meet these huge running costs the Cathedral relies heavily on a number of commercial operations such as property rental, entrance charges, the Cathedral shop and the hotel and conference centre. The income from these operations is only just enough to cover the daily running costs of the building and more is needed to restore and protect this magnificent building from the effects of weather and time.
Running a building of this size requires a diverse and skilled team of craftsmen. The Cathedral employs its own team of stonemasons, electricians, carpenters and plumbers to keep the building running throughout the year but more specialist help is needed to preserve and develop the building for future generations to enjoy as we have.
