A royal guest joined the Evensong service at York Minster today (Wednesday, March 29).
Prince Andrew was among the congregation to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the York Minster Fund (YMF).
The Duke of York delivered a reading as part of the service.
The event marks 50 years since the fund was formed to raise money to stop the cathedral’s Central Tower from collapsing.
The York Minster Fund was established as a charitable foundation by Roger, Earl of Scarbrough, on the 3 April 1967, with its first task to raise funds for work to underpin the tower.
Since 2007 the fund has been the leading fundraising body for the cathedral, supporting the work of conservation, restoration and development of York Minster by raising on average £1m each year.
Recent projects include York Minster Revealed, a five year £20m initiative completed in 2016 to restore the Great East Window and open the cathedral to new audiences.
It is currently raising funds to restore the South Quire Aisle, which will require £11m over the next 11 years.
Director of the York Minster Fund Neil Sanderson, said: “The fund was originally established during York Minster’s hour of need, when emergency excavations in the 1960s revealed integral weaknesses and crumbling foundations beneath the Central Tower.
“Although that crisis has passed, it is inevitable in a building of this size and magnificence that we still face many of the issues today which we did 50 years ago.”
