About the fundraising appeal

On St Bede’s Day, we launched a joint fundraising appeal with Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children’s Books, in Newcastle. The #InspiringImaginations appeal aims to share the joy of reading with school children from County Durham. Funds raised will provide class visits to a new Seven Stories exhibition based on the book, ‘The Lost Spells’.

With a target of £4,000 to raise before the end of July, the appeal is a response to the serious impact that Covid-19 has made on the education of young people in local communities.

Durham Cathedral continues to inspire

For centuries, Durham Cathedral has been a place of inspiration for artists and authors. This joint appeal will inspire the imaginations of the future by supporting the cathedral’s ongoing education and outreach work.

Your donations will help us to remove the financial barriers preventing local young people from experiencing ‘Shifter of Shapes' at Seven Stories. The new exhibition is based around Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris’ book, ‘The Lost Spells’, which is a celebration of the natural world in the form of beautifully illustrated ‘spell’ poems.

A fundraising target of £4,000

The fundraising target of £4,000 will facilitate visits for 100 school children to experience the exhibition at Seven Stories. The pupils will benefit from exclusive use of the gallery and learning space, and receive book tokens to spend in the Seven Stories shop.  Proceeds from the appeal will also contribute to our education and outreach programmes.

Thank you for your donations

Thanks to your generosity, in total we raised £4,215, surpassing our £4,000 target! This will help us to inspire the imaginations of 105 school children across County Durham. Your support will allow five extra pupils than we had originally hoped for, to experience the Seven Stories exhibition.

Special thanks to:

The Groves Family Community Foundation for their charitable £1,500 donation.

‘As a family we have donated £1000 in memory of John Arthurs, my dad.  John was a member of St John’s Church, Neville’s Cross for many years, attending the Cathedral and more lately St Edmond’s at Bearpark.

John passed away on 29 May 2020, just weeks after his 70th birthday.  As for many families who have lost loved ones during the past year, being able to celebrate and honour their lives has been difficult under restrictions.  After discovering the Cathedral’s #InspiringImaginations project, we were pleased to support the project with a gift in memory of John.

John and his wife, Vicky, often took the grandchildren to Seven Stories, where they shared happy times together. We are delighted to support the project which encapsulates so many of the elements Dad held close to his heart.’

To discuss the appeal or a major gift, please contact our Relationship and Development Manager, Matthew Mills: matthew.mills@durhamcathedral.co.uk