The Canterbury Gift, the new name for the fundraising and development campaign at Canterbury Cathedral, was launched on March 1.

This is an important moment for the Cathedral, as efforts to take our conservation and development message outside Kent and to work nationally and internationally are redoubled. 

Our many supporters have been incredibly generous, and of the £9.6 million we have raised since the autumn of 2006, almost two thirds has come from people with a strong connection to Kent. 

But if we are to raise the large sums required for the many urgent conservation and necessary development projects that need to take place then we need to remind the wider world of Canterbury’s status as a national institution, as a centre of unbelievable creativity in music and the decorative arts, standing at the heart of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and as part of a World Heritage Site.

Our new national Development Campaign Team meets for the first time in London in the first week of March, under the chairmanship of Richard Oldfield, Chairman of Oldfield Partners LLP and recently High Sheriff of Kent.

Save Canterbury Cathedral as the name of our appeal served us well in the first years of this great project. But everyone agreed it was time to move on to an approach that captured Canterbury’s unique status, and the contribution that the Cathedral and all it stands for makes to today’s world. Hence our brand new way of doing things – The Canterbury Gift.

We have had an excellent team of advisers working with us to develop this new idea.  Thanks to many people’s willingness to give “in kind” support, particularly their time, all this has been achieved at very little extra cost.

For more information about The Canterbury Gift you can read our brochure here. We do hope you enjoy reading it and exploring our website.

We also look forward to receiving your support as we embark on this exciting new era.