Everybody needs friends, and cathedrals are no exception. The economic depression in the 1930s, when unemployment was rife, resulted in little or no money being available to repair our great cathedrals. A letter to The Times suggested that people who cared for their local cathedral should do something about it. Salisbury was one of the first cathedrals in England to set up a group of Friends. The first members came from the great and the good who undertook to make regular contributions to their local cathedral. Gradually the concept of Friendship spread and Friends’ organisations grew, from small beginnings, into large and increasingly well-funded groups.
The Association of the Friends of Salisbury Cathedral was established in 1930. Its aims then were what they are today:
“To support the Chapter of Salisbury in maintaining, preserving, improving and enhancing the fabric, fittings, ornaments, furniture, music and monuments of the Cathedral, and to support its life, worship and ministry.”
It now has over 3,500 members from throughout the United Kingdom and overseas.
To find out what the Friends do, please move to
What Friends Do. |
