People will soon be able to donate to the upkeep of York’s ancient walls after a scheme was given the go-ahead.
Plans to install two ‘tap-to-donate’ points at Bootham Bar were approved at a meeting today (Tuesday).
Liam Dennis, City of York Council’s ancient monuments manager, said it was hoped that the scheme could raise enough money to improve the walls for visitors including by making them more accessible.
Council culture lead Cllr Pete Kilbane said they were asking tourists to contribute to yearly upkeep costs of up to £600,000 at a time when the authority faces financial constraints.
The decision meeting heard the approved scheme followed a previous trial around ten years ago.
Mr Dennis said the trial sought to learn from previous efforts including by improving communication.
He added technology and visitors’ expectations had moved on since that attempt to attract donations.
The council’s plans include installing two donation points at Bootham Bar which would ask visitors for single figure donations.
QR codes inviting people to donate amounts of their choosing online would also be displayed along with information about past and present maintenance and conservation of the walls.
Depending on the outcome of the trial, donation points would be installed elsewhere along the walls along with the infrastructure to run them, at an estimated cost of £5,000.
Cllr Kilbane said if five per cent of the estimated 2.5m visitors to the walls donated £5 it would raise around £625,000 which would more than cover upkeep costs.
He added those costs included employing specialist stone masons to help maintain them, with York one of the few councils to do so.
The economy and culture executive member said: “The city walls are not only the glory of York, they’re one of the glories of England.
“They were built by the Romans so they’re older than England and some of those Roman remains are still with us today, they’ve since been remodelled by the Vikings, expanded in the Middle Ages and restored by the Victorians.
“The Victorians even built a new bar, Victoria Bar, which was funded by public subscriptions, so what we’re thinking of trialling was done successfully by them almost 200 years ago.
“This is about us handing these walls down to the next generation so they can be enjoyed by people in another 2,000 years time.”