Commissioner’s Community Grant Scheme supports cathedral safety project

Truro Cathedral has been awarded £5,000 by the Commissioner’s Community Grants Scheme. The Scheme was set up by Alison Hernandez, Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly and is delivered in partnership with Cornwall Community Foundation. It has the aim of supporting safe, resilient and connected communities through helping local organisations tackle issues like anti-social behaviour.

Dean Simon Robinson explained why the cathedral applied for the funding: “Truro Cathedral is a community asset. It has a city centre position and prides itself on providing a warm welcome for everyone. Most people respect the sacred nature of the building and the rights of others, but we are seeing a significant rise in the number of incidents of anti-social behaviour. Some of these incidents pose a risk of harm to our team and our visitors.

The cathedral has a duty of care to all cathedral users, and so we applied to the Commissioner’s Community Grant Scheme for help to provide staff training and additional equipment. We are delighted to have been awarded £5,000. This project will help staff to defuse and de-escalate potentially difficult situations and safeguard visitors and team members alike. We will do all that we can to ensure everyone feels at home and welcome whenever they come to the cathedral.”

The whole cathedral team thanks the Police and Crime Commissioner and Cornwall Community Foundation for this award.