Campaign Chair, John Child said. “We are aware that in this present crisis local businesses can not afford to make donations to the campaign, but it is likely that due to the downturn in trade local scaffolders, for example may have some materials they can let us have free of charge, but at little or no cost to them”.

“We are looking at a variety of ways in which we can make some progress on getting the roof work started. Although we do not have the money to do all 3 sections of the cathedral roof we may be able to do a third at a time. To this end we have instructed our architect and surveyors to come up with an alternative plan of work.”

In a separate development the campaign announced that the recent High Sherriff’s Concert raised one and a half thousand pounds towards the Campaign.

Cathedral Campaign organsers were very pleased that the Jeff Hooper concert at the cathedral tonight (Friday) played to a nearly full cathedral and raised around £2,000 towards the roof repair fund

The Headley Trust have announced that they are making a grant of £50,000 to the Newport Cathedral Campaign.

The Trust which specialises in grants to Anglican Cathedrals and Churches give away a total of £23,000 to a handful of churches in the Monmouth Diocese last year.

Welcoming news of the donation Campaign Spokesamn Fr Mark Soady said, “This is wonderful news. While we are grateful for all the donations we receive we need a number of these larger Trust donations in order to reach our target. I hope this is the first of amny this year”.

The Cathedral has appointed Davies Langdon as Quantity Surveyors to join the team of professionals who along with our Cathedral Architect Michael Davies of Davies Sutton (Architects) to draw up the required plans for the restoration work to begin. As required by law they have consulted with a Bat expert.

In addition expert lighting engineers have come up with a detailed schedule of work for the installation of new lights in the Cathedral roof at the time of the restoration.

Over £100,000 has been spend on these projects to date, so as  to enable  work to get started onsite the moment we have the money to pay for it.

St Woolos Cathedral’s Emergency Campaign was set up in 2009 in order to raise money for restoration and repair work to its roof, which is now in a critical condition.

In aid of the campaign, the school’s music department have arranged a charity concert, which will showcase the musical abilities of children aged seven to 16, to take place at the cathedral on 6.00pm Thursday 25 March.

Confirmed to take part in the concert are the Junior School orchestra, the Junior and Senior School brass bands, the Junior and Senior School choirs, the young recorder group and several student bands.

Campbell Dobbins, music teacher at Rougemont School, says: “As a school we are keen to help the local community and the cathedral is one of the most significant buildings in Newport. It has a rich and detailed history, which is important to preserve for future generations.

“We have held charity events for the cathedral in the past and they have always been well received. The children here are very excited to be taking part in the appeal and are already rehearsing to make sure that the evening a success.”

Dean Dr Richard Fenwick says: “The cathedral authorities have been aware of the poor condition of the roof for some time now. Over the years some repairs have been made, but because of a lack of funds these repairs could only be remedial.

“The roof has continued to deteriorate and has now reached the point where the whole roof must be totally replaced and restored if the cathedral is to function normally in future.”

“There has long been a good association between the cathedral and Rougemont School, which has helped us with events like these before. I’m looking forward to another concert of great music that brings the community together.”

The event will be free to attend with opportunities to donate throughout the evening, with all proceeds going to St Woolos Cathedral. For more information about the appeal or to donate, please visit www.newportcathedral.com/how-to-give/.

ENDS

All media enquiries to Kirsty Callingham at Freshwater on 02920 545387 or email kirsty.callingham@freshwater-uk.com

Notes to Editor:

• Rougemont School (www.rougemontschool.co.uk) is an HMC co-educational independent school for pupils from nursery through to sixth form (age 3-18). Located in Newport the school combines small class sizes with excellent academic results.
• It has over 700 pupils located on a 50 acre site
• Rougemont was placed joint first for Wales in The Financial Times 2006 top 500 Independent Schools league table, scoring the top score for UCAS points per pupils, with an average 395, where an A grade = 120 points. Rougemont also scored an average 3.9 subjects taken per pupil, the highest in Wales.
• The school places a strong emphasis on creating a friendly atmosphere fostering good working relationships between staff and pupils.

Welcoming the news of his appointment Campaign Chair John Child said, “Chris’s experience in local government and his experience in accessing funds will be invaluable to the Campaign.

The Dean Dr Richard Fenwick added, “We had a good working relationship between City and Cathedral during Chris’s time as Managing Director , this is a development of that relationship”.

Chris Freegard had been the Managing Director of Newport City Council since 2001. He previously held a wide range of senior posts in the development and regeneration field in English urban authorities. This includes a City Challenge Company and a Development Corporation. Latterly, he was Director of Regeneration for Plymouth City Council (1995 to 2001).

Chris was a Director of Newport Unlimited, Wales’ only Urban Regeneration Company; the Ryder Cup Wales 2010 Company; and is a Governor of the University of Wales, Newport. Chris was also Chair of SOLACE Wales in 2007/08.

He was awarded an OBE for services to local government in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list of 2008.

Former Torfaen councillor Neil Lewis said he was humbled by the news he was to receive an MBE. He is the organiser of the Campaign Lunch in April and previously arranged the schools contribution to the campaign.

Mr Lewis, 64, who was a county councillor for Blaenavon 15 years, was instrumental in the regeneration of the town, which followed after it gained World Heritage status in 2000. This included the revamp of the main shopping area in Broad Street, the development of the World Heritage Centre and the refurbishment of the Workingmen’s club and other buildings in need of repair. During his time as executive member for regeneration for Torfaen council in 2006, he was chairman of the World Heritage Forum for the United Kingdom.

Miss Sollis Secretary of the Campaign is the Cathedral’s Chief Steward. She is also a member of the Governing Body and Representative Body of the Church in Wales. She will be instituted in February at a ceremony in the Cathedral.

Choir member John Granger decided to rope in his two friends, and fellow cathedral singers, Steve Harries and David Owen to help.

He is invited people to come along and sing their favourite hymns at two evening events in Newport and Blackwood and raised over £700.

Other Fundrasing events included: organising lunch for friends, making jam and marmalade and selling plants.

A total of around £2,000 was raised this way.

HRH visited the Cathedral to see for himself the perilous state of the Cathedral’s roof. The Duke last visited the cathedral in late November 2008, prior to the cathedral architect, Michael Davies, issuing his warning that the state of the roof timbers were in a very bad state of decay.

Having been briefed by the architect and inspected the roof HRH attended a working lunch at the Bishop of Monmouth’s residence, where he discussed with the campaign team how best to raise the additional monies needed to start work on the roof. That evening HRH was the principal guest at a Dinner in the Cathedral for potential donors.

Welcoming the news of HRH visit John Child, Campaign Chair said, “We are extremely grateful to our Royal Patron for his continued support. Three visits to the Cathedral in 3 years shows his commitment to ensuring that this unique building is restored”.

Madame Penelope Fillon, wife of the French Premier, is to visit Newport Cathedral at 9.30am on Saturday, September 19th, to lend her support for the Cathedral’s Emergency Campaign to restore its medieval roof.

Mme. Fillon is a native of Llanover which falls within the diocese covered by Newport Cathedral. The daughter of an Abgergavenny Solicitor Colin Clarke, she married the French Premier in the 17th-century church of St Bartholomew, Llanover in June 1980.

Welcoming the news of the visit Newport Cathedral Emergency Campaign Chair, John Child said: “It is marvellous to have the support of Mme.Fillon. News of her visit will give the campaign a boost as we approach our deadline to raise around £1 million pounds. Work needs to start soon if we are to save the Cathedral roof.”